The Section on Business Law of the Nigerian Bar Association held its 3rd Business Law Conference from Tuesday, 25th March 2008 to Friday, 28th March 2008 at the Transcorp Hilton Hotels Abuja.

The conference drew participants from all over Nigeria, Africa, UK, US and China and these included policy formulators, industry practitioners and the law regime.

A total number of 80 presentations were made at the conference covering such diverse fields as The Hot Topic Session  on The Whistle Blower: Money Laundering; Globalization of Legal Services; Africa’s Environment; Reform Agenda for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry; A healthy Work Force; Maritime & Transportation; Tourism & Hospitality; Barriers to Trade In Africa; Harmonization of Business Laws; Competition Law; Practice Development; Banking, Finance & Insolvency; Capital Markets; Corporate Governance; Regulating the Profession; Taxation; Telecoms Law; Intellectual Property; Alternative Dispute Resolution; Promoting Business Through Law; Aviation; Islamic Commercial Law; Law & Infrastructural Development; Justice Sector Reform and Legal Regulatory Constraints to Doing Business in Nigeria.

The Key note address was delivered by Mr. Nana Akufo-Addo, the Former Attorney General & Former Foreign Minister and now the Presidential Flag Bearer of New Patriotic Party, Ghana (the ruling party).

Click here to view Photos from the Conference

After in depth discussions on the presentations, the following were adopted by the conference as recommendations to promote viable business environment in Africa.

1. On globalization, the conference held a Pre Conference Meeting of African Bar Leaders and the following recommendations were made:

• That it is imperative for African countries to support their own in the ongoing globalization debate so as to strengthen their arms in the WTO negotiations;

• That lawyers should be included in negotiating teams in any of the rounds where the globalization of legal services will be considered;

• That the various Bar Associations must come up with regulations which define the way and manner foreign legal services can be consumed in their region;

• That African Countries should lean on their nationals in the diaspora and create the necessary synergies to make us compete in a globalized world.

2. That the realization of our vision 2020 dream is predicated on the development of the necessary human capital and African countries must become more self reliant like their South East Asian counterparts and move away from a raw material based  economy to full industrialization. The conference noted that the Malaysian reform is a worthy example to follow.

3. That the harmonization of business laws in Africa must be pursued vigorously so as to allow for free movement of goods and services within the continent. The OHADA initiative was particularly recommended as it is intended to create uniformity of business laws and provide a secure legal environment that avoids uncertainty and duplicity of business laws.

4. The conference noted that poor infrastructural development is a major barrier to Intra African trade, examples of these are complicated and sometimes nonexistent transportation networks; low communication and ICT penetration; under developed trade payment system; elaborate customs procedure; a network of regulatory barriers which include filing documents at the registry; assessment and payment of taxes, levies, multiple and complicated tax structures in especially Anglophone Africa; ineffective participation at WTO negotiations. One of the recommendations was for increased Public Private Partnership to ease the financial burdens on government to build viable infrastructure.

5. That the National Planning Commission should put in motion forthwith the process for establishing a competition law regime as this will promote healthy competition amongst businesses which will in turn lead to rapid growth in the economy and lower prices for better quality goods and services.

6. The Conference commended the giant strides by Nigerian banks in going global. However, some banks who unethically hold on to investors’ funds during capital raising should be called to order by the regulatory agencies so that investor confidence in the sector remains very high.

7. On Intellectual Property rights, the conference noted that a combination of outdated laws; poor funding of regulatory and enforcement agencies; little or no investment in research and development; deficiencies in judicial understanding and general low level awareness conspire to keep Africa and Nigeria in particular too far behind in benefitting from an effective Intellectual Property regime. The conference therefore recommends the necessary reforms in the identified areas. A “catch them young campaign” should be instituted to recruit the younger generation in this fight.

8. On telecoms, the conference agreed that there is need to amend the Communication Act to accommodate the expanding communication industry.

9. On Alternative Dispute Resolution, the conference stated its importance as an effective mechanism for dispute resolution and that effort must be made to develop Nigeria into a major regional dispute resolution centre in line with its status as an important business centre in the continent.

10. On regulating the profession and practice development, the conference recommends mandatory continuing legal education for all lawyers in Nigeria and for higher ethical standards in practice and for Nigerian firms to retool in preparation for global competition.

11. The conference also called for justice sector reforms and the application of modern technology for speedy justice delivery.

12. On taxation, the conference called for higher levels of participation by practitioners in tax administration so as to give proper interpretation and execution of tax laws.

13. The conference noted the importance of Islamic business law as a viable alternative in financing businesses and called for its inclusion in school curriculum.

14. On constraints to doing business in Nigeria, the conference noted that there is need for an overhauling of the land tenure system in particular to remove the need for Consent in land transactions as it diminishes the value of land as a viable security for transactions. The conference also recommended the reduction of regulatory costs e.g CAC fees; SEC fees; stamp duties; authorized capital and secured loans etc. and to encourage greater interactions amongst lawyers and the regulators in these areas in the larger interest of the public they serve.

15. On money laundering, the conference noted that the participation of African countries in the global money laundering regime should be from the perspective of stemming corruption in their countries by stopping the trend whereby most corruptly acquired funds find safe havens in foreign bank vaults. In return, we should support the fight against money laundering to stem terrorists funding; drugs and other globally harmful activities. Therefore, continuous dialogue amongst the regulators and the regulated is highly recommended.

16. The conference noted the importance of a healthy workforce in the overall economic growth of any country. Consequently, the National Health Insurance Scheme must be strengthened to give affordable and easy access to health matter especially regular checkups to detect and treat signs of heart disease; diabetes etc and back pain for those with sedentary jobs. Conference was particularly excited about the health segment.

    Generally, the conference was of high international standard and saw the active participation amongst policy formulators; industry practitioners and the law regime in what is encouraged to be a continuous partnership to achieve the stated objectives. In fact policy makers and industry practitioners should make this a must attend conference.

    George Etomi.
    Chairman NBA Section on Business Law.

Click here to view the Conference Papers