The 2018 SBL Conference: ‘Bringing Down the Barriers – The Law as a Vehicle for Intra-Africa Trade’ – Okey Egbuchu
Commercial law practice in Nigeria is currently in a good place. In the past 20 years, commercial law practice has expanded into areas such as telecommunications, IT, entertainment, power, infrastructure, and so on. So in Nigeria today we have more industries, and all these areas have their foundations in laws and regulations. And commercial lawyers are at the forefront of putting these regulations in place. Some of them are yet to have strict and comprehensive laws governing them, but the SBL is working on them. And the growth of these areas, and the economic expansion that has resulted from this growth, is what has led to Nigeria’s emergence as the No. 1 economy in Africa. And our contributions in this regard have been immense.
Based on the vision of the SBL Chairman, Mr. Olumide Akpata, who wanted us to focus on Africa for this year’s Business Law Confernece, myself and the chairman of the conference programme sub-committee, Mr. Kunle Ajagbe, had the task to formulate topics based on Africa. So, the topic ‘The Law as a Vehicle for Intra-Africa Trade’ was framed, and was further reframed by the SBL Council.
As for benefits to stakeholders across Africa, you’ll recall that the continental free trade agreement has come into focus. Some time ago, the President (of Nigeria) avoided going to Addis Ababa to sign it. But it has become a topical issue, and to the best of my knowledge, this will be the first public platform to really discuss issues around African trade and integration. We are encouraged by the calls we’ve been receiving from stakeholders, including people in government, who have expressed their desire to participate and discuss the CFTA in light of the broad topic of our conference.
We need to sensitize and help prepare lawyers for the advent of the proposed Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (CFTA) and the impact it would have on the Nigerian economy, and particularly on the young lawyers who want to ply their trade across national borders.
Our lawyers are still a bit insular as far this CFTA is concerned, and indeed about Africa generally. They need to see the benefits.
During the 2018 SBL Conference we shall have a whole plenary session that will focus solely on that, and the whole concept of African trade and integration. Apart from the few commentaries and talking points generated by the President’s not going to sign the agreement in Addis Ababa, this will be the first real platform for us to discuss this issue in depth.
Every trade bloc has experienced astronomical growth in recent years –be it the EU (European Union) or NAFTA (North American Free Trade Association). Africa’s case should not be any different. The Nigerian economy, which is the largest in Africa, is expected to grow. The UN’s Economic Commission for Africa estimates that the African economy will reach $29 trillion in size by 2050, and Nigeria will be responsible for a huge chunk of that. So we expect that with more intra-regional trade among African countries – which at present is only at 17%, will be boosted up to as much as 70% in the next few years, and if this happens, the Nigerian economy can only benefit.
For young lawyers, since African countries will be trading among themselves, you’ll expect, of course, that there’ll be more business being done across the continent, so businesses should be able to take lawyers into African countries. Being more mobile than the older professionals, young lawyers will adapt more quickly to these changes.
We also expect the existing barriers and restrictions to trade to be eased. Nigeria also must open up for lawyers from elsewhere to come and practice – though we have by far the largest number of lawyers in Africa. If you remember, during the last African Bar Association Conference (in Port Harcourt), Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania had between them, just about 2,000 lawyers, whereas in a year, we churn out more than that number. The whole of East Africa doesn’t have more than 10% of Nigerian lawyers. South Africa boasts quite a sizable number, but not on the scale of Nigeria. So we (Nigerians) are the ones who stand to benefit the most from this free trade area agreement because of our population, and we need to get them jobs. And not just lawyers; both skilled and unskilled labour as well.
We’re expecting the chairman of the LCA, Mr. Yemi Candide-Johnson (SAN); Dr. Onyema of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; and the Chairman of the African Union, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda to be the keynote speaker. We are also expecting one or two other African presidents. So, it’s quite a loaded programme for this year’s business law conference.
SBL has always been at the forefront of ensuring that the laws, rules and regulations of Nigeria are business-friendly. We have always been involved in the formulation of government’s policies on business through some of the legislation coming from the national assembly to make sure that we change some of the laws and regulations that affect business. As a result of all these engagements, you can now see that Nigeria’s global Ease of Doing Business ranking has improved tremendously, according to the World Bank; in fact, we’re among the top 10 improvements in the world. And the federal government has acknowledged our contributions in this regard.
My advice is for lawyers to register and get ready for an intellectually designed event. Everything about this conference is attractive, from the topic itself, which is Africa-focused, to the CFTA in particular, which is clearly the future and the foundation of Africa’s economic growth, to the broad areas we’re going to cover, such as e-commerce in Africa, to enhancing transport connectivity in Africa, to financing intra-African trade and development, to the movement of skilled labour and goods, to consumer protection and standardization of products, to ease of doing business.
The SBL is negotiating to bring Fela & the Kalakuta Queens to Abuja, and we’re also negotiating with one of the top musical artistes and comedians in the country. Delegates are coming from all over the world. So there are lots of networking opportunities.
This is a conference you cannot afford to miss.
Okey Egbuchu, currently chairs the Conference Planning Committee of the 2018 NBA-SBL Business Law Conference slated for Abuja, Nigeria on the 27th to 29th, 2018.
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