In Commercial Litigation in Anglophone Africa, now in its second edition, the authors set out the broad framework of the private international law rules in operation in each of the sixteen Anglophone jurisdictions considered (Botswana, Eswatini, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe).

"A Seminal work that provides both a first point of reference and a valuable secondary source of information for all who work with procedural law in Africa and beyond. All categories of users, including lawyers, judges, lecturers, researchers, legal advisers, arbitrators and students, will be relieved to have a book that serves both as a research tool and a substantive resource on commercial litigation in Anglophone Africa within easy reach in one volume” (Assistant Professor Ada Ordor, University of Cape Town, SA Law Journal Vol 136, 593)

Accelerated economic growth in Africa, fuelled by significant international investment (particularly in Anglophone Africa), means that businesses and commercial organisations require and demand advice on cross-border commercial litigation and will continue to do so increasingly in the future.

In 1962, President Nkrumah of Ghana emphasised the importance of lawyers from Ghana becoming acquainted with the law of other African countries, so as constantly to ‘increase inter-African economic and cultural relations”. His words are all the more relevant today, given the economic development in Africa in recent decades. With this increased intra and extra-continental trade, the scope for the occurrence of commercial disputes has expanded and will only continue to expand.

With these developments firmly in mind, in Commercial Litigation in Anglophone Africa, now in its second edition Andrew Moran KC and Anthony Kennedy, set out the broad framework of the private international law rules in operation in each of the sixteen Anglophone jurisdictions considered (Botswana, Eswatini Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe).  Specifically, the authors identify and clarify the law to be applied as it relates to:

Civil jurisdiction over commercial disputes involving a foreign element

The availability and nature of interim remedies in each of the 16 jurisdictions addressed

The enforcement of foreign judgments in all of the jurisdictions

As Associate Professor Ada Ordor of the University of Cape Town has recognised, the key benefits of the book include:

  • the fact that the authors’ analysis of the procedural law on commercial litigation in Anglophone Africa is underpinned by principles, like the practice of judicial precedent and the application of the rules of statutory interpretation by courts, which unite the common-law world;
  • the fact that it brings together in one place the law and practice on commercial litigation in Africa’s Anglophone countries and so holds much value for comparative research; and
  • it provides clarity on national laws and the domestic remedies which they provide, which clarity is all the more important given the increasing use of the continent’s regional courts by private citizens and companies in respect of causes of action arising in commerce.