Mr. Joachim BILÉ-AKA

Attorney-at-Law and Partner, BILÉ-AKA, BRIZOUA-BI & Associés; Former President of the Côte d’Ivoire Bar.

Joachim Bilé-Aka is a distinguished Ivorian lawyer and international arbitration practitioner with more than three decades of legal practice. He is a co-founder and Partner of BILÉ-AKA, BRIZOUA-BI & Associés, where he heads the Litigation and Arbitration Department. His practice focuses particularly on international arbitration, structured finance and commercial negotiations. He served as President (Bâtonnier) of the Côte d’Ivoire Bar from 2011 to 2013, after previously serving as a member of the Bar Council.

Mr. Bilé-Aka has extensive experience in international and regional arbitration. He served as a member of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris from 2017 to 2025 and is now an ICC Alumni member. He is also an arbitrator on the list of the OHADA Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA), a member of the French Arbitration Association and of the Arbitration Committee of the Lagos Court of Arbitration. He regularly acts as counsel or arbitrator in domestic and international proceedings conducted under, among others, ICC, CCJA and UNCITRAL arbitration rules.

Beyond his legal practice, Mr. Bilé-Aka has contributed extensively to regional legal and institutional development. As President of the Côte d’Ivoire Bar, he initiated work that contributed to the UEMOA framework harmonizing the legal profession across its member states. He also participated in Côte d’Ivoire’s interinstitutional negotiations relating to World Trade Organization agreements and EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreements, including as a member of the Ivorian delegation to several WTO Ministerial Conferences. He has held leadership positions within international lawyers’ organizations and regularly provides training on international and OHADA arbitration.

Mr. Bilé-Aka holds the Certificate of Aptitude for the Legal Profession (CAPA) and a degree in Business Law, complemented by specialized training in domestic and international arbitration, banking and financial law, and international trade. His professional contributions have been recognized through several distinctions, including the Medal of Honour of the International Association of Lawyers and national honours from Côte d’Ivoire.