The relationship between anti-corruption disclosure and bank’s non-performing loans: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

This study investigates how anti-corruption disclosure (ACD) affects non-performing loans (NPL) using 125 banks in 32 Sub-Saharan African countries from 2012 to 2023. We developed an ACD index which measures both transparency levels and anti-corruption reporting quality through the analysis of annual reports from banks. We find the results to be consistent with our hypothesis showing anti-corruption disclosure being negatively associated with NPL. The negative association between ACD and NPL is higher in listed banks which indicates that market discipline enhances disclosure. Overall, the results emphasise the critical importance of transparency in the promotion of resilience to credit risk and systemic stability in emerging banking systems.