Member news

The 5th SOAS Arbitration in Africa Conference

12 February 2019

The fifth SOAS Arbitration in Africa Conference was co-hosted by the African Institute for International Law, Arusha and Bannaga & Fadlabi LLP (Sudan) from 12-14 February 2019 at the Arusha International Conference Centre. The theme of the conference was 'Best Practices in Arbitration and ADR in Africa'. There were eight panel discussions on the dispute resolution mechanism of the AfCFTA; core commercial and investment arbitration issues and a mediation panel. 109 delegates attended the conference. The keynote speaker, Mrs Olufunke Adekoya, SAN made a 'business case for arbitration in Africa'. H.E Prof Gastorn Kennedy, the Secretary General of the Asia-Africa Legal Consultative Organisation (AALCO) gave one of the welcome remarks while the President of the East African Community Court of Justice, Justice Emmanuel Ugirashebuja gave the closing remarks. The conference booklet with the papers will be published on the SOAS website. Dr Emilia Onyema, SOAS University of London convenes this annual conference series. The 2020 SOAS Arbitration in Africa conference will hold in March 2020 in Douala, Cameroon.