The Growing Awareness of the Role of SMEs in Anti-Corruption

For the first time, the largest global gathering of anti-corruption practitioners and activists purposefully examined the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in combatting corruption, with business representatives sharing their stories. It was another example of the anti-corruption community’s growing recognition of these businesses as a crucial ally. CIPE’s ACGC team led this effort by hosting an event at Transparency International’s International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) in Vilnius, Lithuania. CIPE’s business integrity and anti-corruption experts used this workshop to explore ways SMEs can fight corruption and provide an analytical overview of the concept’s evolution over the past 15 years. The event also shared three success stories: SME collective action initiatives against corruption from Nigeria, Ukraine, and Lithuania.