The Regional project “Promotion of Rule of Law and Justice in Africa” GIZ and the Federal Bar Association of Germany, have joined forces and are very pleased to welcome you to our web conference “the new Africa Agreement AfCFTA – Opportunities for the Advocacy of Africa”.
On this three-day conference we will be taking a close look at the much anticipated but not yet fully penetrated African Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) from November 09th to 11th, 2021.
Through presentations and workshop sessions, we invite you to exchange ideas on the following three topics:
1. The basics of the AfCFTA, its challenges and opportunities
With the Secretariat of the AfCFTA we will have a closer look at the structure, the status quo and the perspective of the free trade agreement. We will also talk about what the agreement can and cannot do. Especially the challenges and opportunities for practitioners in dealing with the agreement will be discussed.
2. The AfCFTA & the Role of the Legal profession (with a focus on Dispute Resolution)
Continuing with some practical tools, we will look at dispute avoidance, dispute prevention and dispute resolution. Based on that, we will discuss the general challenges in resolving (cross-border) disputes in Africa such as delay in courts, inadequate legislation and inadequacies in the dispute resolution infrastructure in Africa. Lastly, we will touch light on the dispute resolution instrument which is foreseen by the AfCFTA.
3. The AfCFTA & the Role of Bar Associations
Rounding it up, we want to give a voice to the various bar associations who help to strengthen the legal profession and who could also enhance the visions of the AfCFTA. The Pan African Lawyers Union as well as the Bar Association of Germany will give us an insight into their work and efforts.
We believe that this brief summary has given you a glimpse of what you can expect. We wish you a productive conference, and hope you enjoy the three days we will virtually spend together.
Agenda on November 9th 2021
Subject to change.
10:00 – 10:30 (CET) – Registration
If you already completed your registration use the access link you received via email to join.
10:30 – 10:45 (CET) – Opening Speech
Head of Legal of AfCFTA
André Haug
Vice President of the German Federal Bar
Emeka Obegolu
President of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU)
Vanessa Egert, LLM
Project Leader for the regional project
“Promoting the rule of law and justice in Africa” of the
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
GmbH
10:45 – 11:15 (CET) – Basics priciples of AfCFTA
(AfCFTA)
Dr. Patina Gappah
Head of Legal of AfCFTA
11:15 – 11:30 (CET) – Coffee break
in 3 rooms with moderator
11:30 – 12:15 (CEST) – Challenges and requirements regarding Afcfta
International Lawyer, Founder of Ndanga Kamau Law
Hatem Kotrane
Lawyer, Prof. emerit. at the Faculty of Juridical, Political and Social Sciences, University of Carthage- Tunis
12:15 – 12:45 (CET) – Workshops on the Principles of the AfCFTA
Dr. Babatunde Ajibade, SAN, FCIArb
Managing Partner of SPA Ajibade & Co.
Room 2: (Arabic)
Hatem Kotrane
Lawyer, Prof. emerit. at the Faculty of Juridical, Political and Social
Sciences, University of Carthage- Tunis
Room 3: (French)
Ndanga Kamau
International Lawyer, Founder of Ndanga Kamau Law
12:45 – 13:00 (CET) – Presentation of the Workshop Rooms
13:00 – 13:15 (CET) – Coffee break / Virtual
Agenda on November 10th 2021
Subject to change.
11:00 – 11:30 (CET) – Basics of dispute avoidance, dispute prevention, and dispute resolution
International Lawyer, Founder of Ndanga Kamau Law
11:30 – 12:00 (CET) – Particularities of Dispute Resolution in Africa
Dr. Babatunde Ajibade, SAN, FCIArb
Managing Partner of SPA Ajibade & Co.
12:00 – 12:15 (CET) – Break / Get-together
12:15 – 12:45 (CET) – Investment Dispute Resolution and the AfCFTA
Secretary General at the African Arbitration Association (AfAA)
12:45 – 13:15 (CET) – Dispute Resolution and the AfCFTA
Lawyer and Arbitrator at Kasumi & Partners Law firm
13:15 – 13:30 (CET) – Coffee break
13:30 – 14:15 (CET) – Workshops on the dispute resolution principles of the AfCFTA
Ahmet Kasumi
Lawyer and Arbitrator at Kasumi & Partners Law firm
Room 2: (Arabic)
Hatem Kotrane
Lawyer, Prof. emerit. at the Faculty of Juridical, Political and Social Sciences, University of Carthage – Tunis
Room 3: (French)
Ndanga Kamau
International Lawyer, Founder of Ndanga Kamau Law
14:15 – 14:45 (CET) – Presentation of the Workshop Rooms
Agenda on November 11th 2021
Subject to change.
11:00 – 11:05 (CET) – Inquiry
11:05– 12:00 (CET) – AfCFTA and the role of lawyers and the Bar Associations in Africa
Emeka Obegolu
President of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU)
Chibuzo Ekwekwuo
Member of PALU
12:00 – 12:15 (CET) – Coffe break
12:15– 13:15 (CET) – Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) and the role of Lawyers and the Bar Association
Vice-President of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe
Christian Lemke
Vice President of the German Federal Bar
13:15 – 13:30 (CET) – Coffee break / Get-together
13:30– 14:30 (CET) – Round table between the African and European bar presidents
President of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU)
Pierre-Dominique Schupp tbc
Vice-President of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe
Christian Lemke tbc
Vice President of the German Federal Bar
14:30 – 15:00 (CET) – Closing Remarks
Time Zones
– 2 hours
Lomé (Togo), Accra (Ghana), Nouakchott (Mauretanien)
– 1 hour
Algier (Algeria), Rabat (Morocco), Tunis (Tunesia)
– 0 hour
Cairo (Egypt), Tripolis (Libya), Cape Town (South Africa)
Moderation
Riad Khalil Hassanain
Attorney at Law
International Department, North Africa, The German Federal Bar
and
Muhamet Brahimi
Advisor for the regional project
“Promoting the rule of law and justice in Africa” of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
