Corporate Governance

ADC’s principles of conducting business in Africa are based upon the standards of good management and control, transparency and accountability set out by the German Corporate Governance Code.

Furthermore, ADC complies with the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association’s (EMPEA) code of conduct for ethical standards and promotion of responsible investment and with the World Bank Group’s guidelines and code of conduct. For each of ADC’s African investments, the company aims to ensure that best practices are implemented in all aspects of business dealings, including social, environmental, sound corporate governance and transparent accounting practices.

ADC sees private equity investments as the route for creating world-class businesses in frontier markets and simultaneously helping the private sector to deliver on its responsibility to make a positive contribution to civic society.

ADC does not agree with corrupt practices and will not support it in any way. ADC has the following additional guidelines in place that maximise transparency in all business dealings:

• All services provided to ADC by external entities/consultants need to be approved by the CEO as well as a second ADC manager and require a detailed description of each service delivered as well as their related costs

• All investments above EUR 500,000 need the approval of the Management Board in Germany, all investments above EUR 1 million need Supervisory Board approval

• At the group level, all contracts need to have dual signatories by the Managing Directors (if more than one) or appointed proxies

ADC and its portfolio companies will comply with all applicable laws, commit to continuous improvements with respect to management of the environment, social matters and governance, and work to apply all relevant international best practice standards.

Key behavioural principles of ADC include:

• To respect the dignity and well-being of all our people and those with whom the business brings us into contact

• To operate professionally in a performance-orientated culture and be committed to continuous improvement

• To be open and honest in all our dealings, while respecting commercial and personal confidentiality

• To be good corporate citizens, demonstrating integrity in each business and community in which ADC operates

• To be objective, consistent and fair with all our stakeholders