The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has stressed the need for reform in the legal regulatory frameworks governing international arbitration in Africa.
According to Dame, Africa's rapidly evolving business environment and the growing inclusion of alternative dispute resolution clauses in commercial agreements make arbitration increasingly significant.
He emphasized that the impact of arbitration on African economies cannot be overlooked. "For all its touted advantages, it is indisputable that the nature of arbitration itself, especially the secrecy of proceedings and finality of awards, except in few very exceptional circumstances, implies that in some situations, it becomes an unwitting vehicle for perpetrating fraud and abuse against the people of Africa.
It is quite curious that in some instances, companies which fail to make out any claim in domestic courts of African countries succeed in extremely huge international arbitration actions, sometimes mounted on the back of contracts which have failed to receive the relevant statutory and constitutional approvals of the countries in which they operate. "This phenomenon is not because of a weakness of the judicial systems of African countries but simply because of the nature of international arbitration, particularly the secrecy of proceedings, flexibility of rules and the finality or non-appealability of awards, which I have just alluded to." Godfred Dame stated.