MEDIA

Echoes from the field

African Legal Support Facility promotes investments at the 2018 African Business law Firms Association Conference

Paris, France, 4 May 2018 — Each year, members and supporters of African Business Law Firms Association (ABLFA) gather at the organization’s annual conference to explore and devise solutions to the emerging challenges preventing or limiting investments in the African region. As a sponsor of this year’s ABLFA Conference which took place in Paris, France on 3-4 May, the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) shared lessons and best practices developed during project implementation.
 
Organized this year on the theme, ‘Legal Certainty of Investments in Africa,” the 2018 ABLFA Conference attracted more than 100 African policy-makers, legal experts, and government representatives. Alongside Marie-Aimée Peyron, President of the Paris Bar Association, ABLFA President, Michel Brizoua-Bi and ALSF Director, Stephen Karangizi officially opened the annual event.
 
The conference was a key event for those who were interested in securing their investments in Africa and create partnerships between African and international law firms. In his presentation, Karangizi, observed that “Africa’s possible development is significant, and its potentials are huge. However, to reap the benefits, the continent will need to recognize and avoid the common pitfalls, while appropriately evolving the relevant legal and fiscal frameworks to improve the investment climate.”  For his part, Souley Amadou of the Bank’s Legal Department highlighted the role of the Bank in facilitating investment in Africa through the financing of private sector projects and ensuring that the projects are legally sound.
 
The conference comprised of high-level panel discussions exploring obstacles to foreign investments in the African region. To formulate meaningful solutions to persisting problems in the area of foreign investments, special care was taken to make a distinction between challenges in the Anglophone context and those of Francophone Africa.  Individual sessions focused on the two regions. To further enrich the deliberations, separate panel discussions were held to share experiences of investing in North and Southern Africa.
 
Contact: Timothy Wasswa Kabugo, African Legal Support Facility, t.wasswa@afdb.org

African Business Law Firms Association Conference.pdf