From 16th – 17th January 2020, an International symposium on the Settlement of Investment Disputes through Arbitration and Mediation in the OHADA Area was held in the Douala (Republic of Cameroon).This event was co-organised by the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) and the Association for the Promotion of Arbitration in Africa (APAA) with the sponsorship of the State Minister, Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals, Mr. Laurent Esso, represented by Mr Fonkwe Joseph Fongang, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice and the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Cameroon.
The event was largely attended with over 200 participants, including economic operators, legal professionals, corporate lawyers, researchers and students. Mrs Shola Oshodi-John FCArb, the /Registrar/ CEO of The Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators (NICArb) also attended this symposium.
The Registrar/ CEO of NICArb in her speech expressed gratitude and appreciation to the leadership of the Association for the Promotion of Arbitration in Africa (APPA) and its partners for the honour of having her speak on Investment Arbitration in Nigeria and what lies ahead for investment arbitration in Africa.
She spoke on the Nigerian Situation with Nigeria’s investment treaty programme being presided over by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) with the main aim to promote attractiveness of Nigeria as an investment haven and put in place such measures designed to ease conducting business in the country.
In her speech, she also spoke about the Challenges with Investment Arbitration in Nigeria and Africa she stated that the challenges are both external and internal and they range from procedural, substantive, policy, infrastructural, to technical (PPIT) challenges. She further stated that Investment Arbitration in Nigeria and within African countries is faced with the challenge of the composition of investment Arbitral tribunals and the absence of effective mechanisms for accountability in the process.
She also talked on the issue of the use of arbitrators who are experienced in commercial law but are not necessarily attuned to the domestic public interest and policy concerns of Nigeria or African countries. She stated that another challenge faced was the issue of lack of representation amongst arbitrators from Nigeria and other African countries and that most times, members of the legal profession (from mostly developed countries) dominate the field.
The Registrar/CEO shared some points and factors that needs to be considered in order to eradicate these challenges faced with Investment Arbitration in Nigeria and Africa; To address these challenges, by Nigeria and African countries, she recommended the bridging of skill gap and building Arbitral specialization.
On the issue of Infrastructure, she stated that there was need to draw the attention of the public and private sector to economic wisdom in investing in the needed infrastructure (including technology) that support the growth of Arbitration (and ADR) in African countries, she further stated that in dealing with the challenge of regulation, (NICArb {in partnership with other arbitral institutions} is currently part of the effort at revising the Arbitration and Mediation Bill to amend the existing Arbitration and Conciliation Act, which is is one way of addressing the imbalance in disputes between states and foreign investors in Nigeria, using the instrumentality of legislation.
