Nairobi 2018 Promises to be a Memorable Experience – Hannibal Uwaifo, President, African Bar Association
In this conversation with the Newswire Law and Events Magazine crew, African Bar Association President Uwaifo outlines the key issues that would engage the minds of delegates in the Kenyan capital during this year’s Conference – including the prospects of African Union’s (AU) Agenda 2063 and its expected impact on the social and economic development of the continent.
Excerpts:
Let us begin with the theme for the upcoming AfBA Conference in Nairobi, Kenya: Africa’s Social, Economic and Political Future – the African Union Agenda 2063 in Perspective. What are your expectations? >>> Our expectations take several forms. One, we expect that the African Union Agenda 2063 which at the moment is hardly known to many Africans, would be fully deliberated upon. Many Africans don’t even know that the AU has such an agenda. So, our expectation is that we’d be able to look at the agenda critically and bring it to the knowledge of most Africans, as well as guard it jealously. As ambiguous as it is at present, we believe it is achieveable. So it is our responsibility to work towards it and ensure that it is achieved. The Agenda 2063 aims to bring Africa to an advanced stage by 2063 so it is important that all stakeholders key into it. We hope that by the time we conclude the Nairobi Conference, the agenda would be seen as a springboard to proffer solutions to many Africa’s many problems.
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2063 is 45 years away from now. Don’t you think that is too long a time to make such projections? >>> Nigeria gained its independent in 1960. Here we are in 2018 and we still don’t have stable electricity or good roads. We are still talking about affordable housing and people are still living below the poverty line. Looking at the number of years since 1960 – or 1914, when Nigeria was officially born – calculate the years till date, and you will realize that 45 years is not a big deal. And I know the AU is in a better position to explain that time-frame and their projection. But to my mind, it’s a feasible plan if approached stage by stage.
As you are aware, Africa is not bereft of businesses from the so-called ‘one-man businesses’ to the large conglomerate. How do you think African lawyers can help ensure that businesses outlast their owners and deliver consistent value to their stakeholders? >>> We need structures that are created and sustained to outlast the builders and founders of such businesses. With all due respect, what we do in Africa is the very opposite: African businessmen seem to live on a daily basis and did not found their businesses to outlast them. What we need to do from the very beginning is to structure the business, no matter how long it will take, to outlast the owner and the stakeholders and those who would continue to run and build it from generation to generation. If any African business is to have a structure they must establish it from the very beginning.
A lot has been done in recent times by AFBA to improve dispute settlement system in many African jurisdictions. What do you think should be done to improve our judicial system so as to attract investors to Africa? >>> The justice delivery sector is key to the growth of any country. Take Nigeria for example; anybody coming to do business in Nigeria or any other African country would like to see that its dispute resolution machinery works. Unfortunately, most of our systems are not working properly, as a result of which a lot of investors, even when they come, do not have long-term investments here – unlike in countries like South Africa and other African countries where the dispute resolution mechanism is well-structured, there you see that they have long term investors. Because of endemic corruption, nepotism, favouritism and incompetence on the part of several judicial officers things don’t work very well in Nigeria. But I am happy that the federal government is able to identify current stumbling- blocks and is dealing with it – for example with the arrest of a number of judicial officers involved in those practices. It’s a warning to everybody that the judiciary is not a place for making money; it is not a place to be corrupt. So, if we are able to put all these things right and the administration of justice is alive then all foreign investment can be sustained here. Otherwise you are going to have only short term investment; somebody will come and do a contract for supplies or do a contract that can yield profit in 6 months, and that is not good for the economy, it is not good for employment and its not good for the country. That is the reason why our unemployment rate is very high because there is no long term investment. All those big companies of yesteryears; Michelin, Leventis, CFAO – they’re all gone. Those companies tapping rubber, the steel rolling mills, the glass factories, they’ve all left. That is why the unemployment rate is on the increase. So, we must have an efficient judiciary in order to have a stable investments landscape.
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What are the expectations of conferees at this year’s Conference? >>> Conferees are going to enjoy vintage Kenyan hospitality and experience a very robust conference. They are going to meet new colleagues and run into old ones. They are going to listen to legal submissions from experienced speakers from around the world. As you know, Kenya is known as a major tourist destination. So conferees are going to be specially entertained in the Nairobi way. We are going to be meeting friends from across the globe, listen to presentations about how to develop content and how to develop a great legal practice. We are also going to meet new clients across the continent. There is going to be a lot of networking and business opportunities. So, we are inviting everybody; litigation and business lawyers, politicians and judicial officers, to register quickly and attend the conference. It will be an experience you will never forget in a hurry.
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