South Africa has recorded the highest number of occupational fraud cases in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ (ACFE) latest Occupational Fraud 2026: A Report to the Nations, reinforcing the need for organisations to strengthen due diligence, governance and fraud prevention measures.
The report found that South Africa accounted for 123 of the 397 occupational fraud cases reported across Sub-Saharan Africa, ahead of Nigeria (64) and Kenya (33). The region represented 19% of all cases captured in the global study and recorded a median loss of US$97,000 per case.
The findings come as organisations continue to face mounting pressure from procurement fraud, corruption, supplier collusion, employee misconduct and increasingly sophisticated financial crime.
According to the ACFE, organisations globally lose an estimated 5% of annual revenue to fraud, while the study, which examined 2,402 real-world fraud cases across 143 countries and territories, found that a typical fraud scheme remains undetected for 12 months.
“Occupational fraud is not only a compliance issue. It is a significant business risk that directly impacts profitability, operational continuity and stakeholder trust,” said Riaan van Jaarsveld, Director at RiXForensica.
“The South African data should serve as a wake-up call for organisations across both the public and private sectors. Once fraud has occurred, recovery is often difficult, costly and, in many cases, incomplete. The most effective approach is to prevent high-risk individuals, suppliers and service providers from entering your business ecosystem in the first place.”
RiXForensica specialises in forensic investigations, due diligence, tracing and fraud risk mitigation services for public and private sector clients. The Pretoria-based firm works with organisations to detect, investigate and prevent fraud through forensic, investigative and technology-driven solutions.
Corruption remains the dominant fraud risk
The ACFE report found that corruption was the most common occupational fraud scheme in Sub-Saharan Africa, featuring in 56% of reported cases. The most significant asset misappropriation schemes included theft of non-cash assets (23%), billing fraud (23%), cheque and payment tampering (13%) and expense reimbursement fraud (12%).
Globally, asset misappropriation remained the most common category of occupational fraud, occurring in 90% of cases, while corruption appeared in 45% of all cases and generated a median loss of US$150,000.
Billing schemes, which often involve false vendors, inflated invoices and manipulated procurement processes, continue to represent one of the most frequent and costly forms of occupational fraud worldwide.
Weak controls continue to create opportunities
The report found that more than half of all occupational fraud cases globally stemmed from either a lack of internal controls or the override of existing controls. Specifically, 33% of cases were linked to inadequate controls, while a further 19% involved controls being bypassed.
Behavioural warning signs also remain prevalent. The report found that 84% of fraud perpetrators displayed at least one behavioural red flag, including living beyond their means, financial difficulties or unusually close relationships with vendors or customers.
Gordon Maeta, Director at RiXForensica, said these findings demonstrate why due diligence should be viewed as a frontline fraud prevention strategy rather than an administrative exercise.
“Fraud frequently begins long before money leaves an organisation. It often starts during recruitment, supplier onboarding or procurement processes where critical checks are either rushed, overlooked or treated as a compliance tick-box exercise.”
“Effective due diligence allows organisations to identify conflicts of interest, undisclosed directorships, adverse information, sanctions exposure, financial instability and potential collusion before appointments or contracts are approved.”
Why procurement and supplier due diligence matter
RiXForensica notes that procurement remains one of the highest-risk environments for occupational fraud due to the prevalence of corruption, bid-rigging, kickbacks and conflicts of interest.
Key due diligence measures should include:
- Verifying company registration and legal status
- Identifying beneficial ownership and directorships
- Screening for conflicts of interest
- Conducting adverse media and sanctions checks
- Assessing financial stability and operational capacity
- Verifying supplier banking details
- Conducting site visits where appropriate
- Cross-matching employee and supplier information to identify potential collusion.
The ACFE report further found that fraud involving collusion was particularly common in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 58% of cases involved multiple perpetrators, higher than the global average.
Employee vetting remains critical
The report found that managers accounted for 46% of occupational fraud cases in Sub-Saharan Africa, while employees accounted for 37% and owner-executives 14%.
Globally, losses increased significantly with authority and tenure. Fraud perpetrated by owner-executives generated a median loss of US$475,000, compared with US$50,000 for employee-level fraud. Perpetrators employed for more than ten years caused median losses of US$200,000, four times higher than those employed for less than a year.
RiXForensica recommends that organisations implement risk-based employee screening programmes that include:
- Identity verification
- Criminal record checks
- Qualification verification
- Employment history validation
- Credit assessments for high-risk positions
- Directorship and conflict-of-interest checks
- Ongoing monitoring and periodic re-vetting.
Prevention is cheaper than recovery
While fraud detection remains heavily reliant on whistleblowing, with 45% of Sub-Saharan African cases uncovered through tips, organisations continue to struggle to recover losses once fraud has occurred.
In Sub-Saharan Africa:
- 12% of organisations recovered all losses
- 40% achieved partial recovery
- 49% recovered nothing at all.
“The data reinforces a simple reality. Prevention is significantly less expensive than investigation, litigation and recovery,” said van Jaarsveld.
“Mandatory due diligence, periodic re-vetting, conflict-of-interest management, segregation of duties and proactive monitoring should no longer be regarded as optional governance measures. They are essential business protections.”