A Senior Partner and Co-founder of Africa Legal Associates, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has called for a single legal framework for courts across all member states of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which should be enforced without interference in order to realise the full potential of the continental pact.
He explained that having conflicting policies and legal frameworks among member states would only stifle the vision of the landmark agreement.
“If you are going to have a single market, there must be a single legal framework. The sovereignty of law must sit at the supranational level,” he said while advocating a legal hierarchy that prioritised continental agreements.
“Without this consistency, he said, achieving true integration, where goods, services and people could move freely would only remain elusive,” Mr Otchere-Darko stated.
He was speaking at a breakfast meeting in Accra yesterday.
The meeting was to mark the 10th anniversary of the law firm, which has touted and promoted the potential of AfCFTA across Africa and other parts of the world.
Leadership of the Ghana Bar Association, led by its President, Efua Ghartey, business owners and lawyers were present at the meeting, which was on the theme: “From Accra to Africa:
Turning AfFTA promise into commercial growth for Ghanaian companies - The evolving role of law firms in Africa”.
It also featured panel discussions on the Ghanaian CEO's journey into new markets and the prospects for effective enforcement and compliance in Africa's single market agenda.
Mr Otchere-Darko said while the firm had been established for a decade, the roots of its practice extended much longer.
He dispelled the misconception in Ghana that lawyers only operated within the courtroom, stating that many practitioners, including himself, focused on corporate law with a Pan-African vision without frequent court appearances.
"Our firm’s emphasis is on business and investments, focusing on various sectors like oil and gas and banking.
The firm's pan-African initiative, he said, included partnerships with lawyers across 10 countries, from Nigeria to South Sudan, with aspirations to expand into Angola.
Mr Otchere-Darko explained that this collaborative effort aimed to empower local practitioners to handle significant cases traditionally dominated by foreign firms.
He, however, noted that legal practice was uniquely challenging, as laws varied significantly among African nations.
"You can't simply practice law in Nigeria just because we share a common law system. You need qualified local lawyers to navigate those jurisdictions," he said, stressing the need for collaboration to enter into other markets.
In a panel discussion, an auditor with KPMG, Caroline Anokye, stressed the need for tailored advisory services that meet varied market demands across Africa.
She further stated that data analytics and technological advancements, such as blockchain and AI, had been embraced by her former company to enhance client service offerings.
A chartered accountant, Rita Agbeko, who works with the Cocoa Processing Company, Plot Enterprise (Ghana) Ltd, said accessing capital and necessary tools, such as hedging mechanisms, remained significant hurdles on the continent.
Despite these trade challenges within Africa, she said her company had been able to establish its presence in European markets.
She urged budding entrepreneurs to focus more on standardisation and global certifications for food safety markets in order to enter other markets.
The Managing Director of Fabrimental, Imran Manji, who recounted his family's long-standing history in Africa, advocated a shift in thinking from national to continental levels, underlining the potential of the AfCFTA framework in promoting resource growth and labour empowerment.
The Director of Paystack Ghana, Kwadwo Owusu-Agyemang, expressed optimism about the promise of AfCFTA, envisioning it as a facilitator for smoother transactions across borders.
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