‘Poor knowledge, trust affecting free trade’

The dearth of knowledge and trust deficit, are part of the hindrances to the success of African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, AfCFTA.

This was contained in a communiqué jointly signed at the end of the first 2-Day Conference Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), by the Nigerian Branch Chairman, Mr. Tunde Busari and the 2020 Conference Organising Chairman, Mr. Yakubu Chonoko Maikyari.

• Two die, five injured in Ogun road crash
• Insecurity: Work with traditional rulers, Buhari charges governors

The conference was attended virtually by nearly 2000 registered participants.

The 55 member states of the African Union, AU, had established the AfCFTA Agreement on March 21, 2028, to create a single continent-wide market for goods and services and to promote the movement of capital and persons among member states.

To improve the pro-enforcement culture of arbitral awards, the Conference, therefore, recommends “Continuous training of judges and legal practitioners to be familiar with arbitration rules and the importance of ADR as a social and economic infrastructure.

It said that with the AfCFTA starting soon, African and indeed Nigerian practitioners’ potentials of gaining global recognition could only be achieved by expanding the frontiers of practice to multiple jurisdictions and increasing their knowledge base and services beyond Nigeria and the African context.

It was observed by the Conference Speakers that “The AfCFTA provides an opportunity for African states to refocus the arbitration global framework by removing structures that project a neo-colonial bias, focusing on capacity building in terms of our negotiating power and capacity of our arbitration practitioners.”