Author: NLM Correspondent

Litigation funding is offering increasing opportunities across Africa: possibilities for investors, lawyers and litigants By Rayne Handley Litigation funding is a rapidly growing industry that has had major traction in the United States, Europe, United Kingdom, Asia and Australia. Litigation funding is born from the nexus of law, finance and commerce. The practice helps those who cannot afford legal fees and acts as a means for corporates to prevent hefty legal fees from eating into profits. In some cases, businesses use legal assets as collateral to secure funding. Given rising litigation costs, litigation funding provides access to justice for those…

The rising popularity of arbitration in Africa has heightened the need for local lawyers, arbitrators and institutions to respond to demand By Andrew Mizner Africa has become a reliable source of work for many international arbitration lawyers in recent years, but much of that work has not been based in Africa. Cases have tended to go to international institutions such as the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) or ICC International Court of Arbitration (ICC), seated in Western Europe and argued by and in front of non-African lawyers and arbitrators. The need for a more diverse pool of legal professionals and arbitral centres to…

The London Court of International Arbitration’s new rules embrace electronic communications, virtual hearings and faster processes, providing an opportunity to further embrace arbitration. By Nathan Searle, Ademola Bamgbose and Charlie Howell The last decade witnessed remarkable developments in the law and practice of arbitration in Africa. For example, jurisdictions like Ghana, South Africa and Tanzania enacted new arbitration laws; courts across the African continent showed a general willingness to enforce validly made arbitration agreements and awards; and various arbitration initiatives have sprung to encourage the growth and practice of arbitration on the continent including the African Promise, Africa Arbitration and the Africa Arbitration Academy. Little wonder that recent…

Kenya’s public debt stands at Sh7.1 trillion as of September 2020, according to CBK data. By Antony Mutunga Before 2020 began, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa were experiencing rising public debt levels. With the pandemic, things became worse for more than a third of the region’s countries, including Kenya, which has been the recipient of warnings on its rising debt from the likes of Moody’s credit agency and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to Moody’s, Kenya’s rising financing risks are as a result by its large gross borrowing requirements, which include amortization of external bilateral debt and the need…

By David Onjili American Airlines (AA), and Delta Airlines are the most profitable and largest airlines by fleet size respectively, occupying the number one slot interchangeably over the last 3 years. AA has a fleet size of 1,556 as compared to Delta’s 1330. In the same year, AA made profits of $44.54b followed by Delta with $44.44b and in third position came Lufthansa Group with $42.18. Ethiopian Airlines (EA) on the other hand is the most profitable airline in the African continent. In fact, it is the only airline to make a profit on the continent for the last three…

By NJ Ayuk Africa stands at a precarious juncture, where the transition from fossil fuels to renewables intersects with the economic benefits of a strategically managed oil and gas industry.  Down one road, the continent expands exploration and production of its vast natural gas and oil reserves to bring electricity, fuel, and financial power to millions. Down the other, it yields to pressure to help achieve climate targets, including outright bans on fossil fuels that would eliminate funding for natural gas projects. Is it possible to put one foot on each path? Absolutely. Doing what’s best for Africa and what’s…

By Tom Collins Africa’s digital transformation and its readiness to use technology to transform livelihoods lags far behind other regions, according to the Network Readiness Index 2020 released in December.   The index, compiled by the Portulans Institute, ranks a total of 134 economies on more than 30 technology-specific indices including four key pillars; technology, people, governance and impact. Mauritius (61), South Africa (76) and Kenya (82) are Africa’s top performers, but the top-ten is mostly made up of European countries and the United States, with Sweden ranked first. Rwanda (96) emerged as the best country among low-income nations, followed closely by…

By Kenechi Okeleke The global transition to 5G is in full swing; there were 103 live 5G networks in 45 countries and territories around the world as of September 2020. GSMA Intelligence estimates that the number of 5G connections will reach 172m globally by the end of this year, representing just over 2 percent of total mobile connections. The 5G era in Africa formally began in 2020 with the launch of commercial 5G mobile and fixed wireless access (FWA) services by two of the continent’s biggest mobile service providers, Vodacom and MTN, in South Africa. Indeed, the move came sooner…

We must regard ports as commercial assets to lend them international competitiveness. With requisite expertise, these projects can become a source of national pride By David Otwoma The implementation of infrastructure projects worldwide is a symbol of modernity and boosts interconnectivity between nations. Infrastructure projects are shaped by geopolitical and economic rivalry between different regions. The east coast of the African continent comprised of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique are examples of countries that have welcomed foreign investors to finance the construction of new ports or the modernization of existing ones. The hundreds of ports in Africa,…

Entrepreneurs and investors should be encouraged to invest in the energy source to diversify our energy portfolio and encourage economic expansion. By David Onjili Both innovators and technocrats operate in one environment. Ideally, theirs should be a symbiotic relationship but oftentimes, especially as we have seen in Kenya, this is never the case. Our government has often rushed to pass legislation that in the long run has stifled innovation. The most memorable instance where legislation has taken a back seat and allowed innovation to take the lead is the case of M-Pesa, but even then, there were overriding personal and…