A legal practitioner and International Bar Association (IBA) officer, Gbenga Agbomoagan, said Africa’s progress in trade integration and legal cooperation is undermined by rigid, country-by-country certification regimes that restrict lawyers from practising across borders.

Agbomoagan, founder and managing partner of G.L. Agbomoagan Legal Practitioners and Consultants, said the continent must urgently embrace a continent-wide policy that allows seamless cross-border legal practice if it hopes to keep pace with global trends and unlock the full benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“So, we advocate practice of law that cuts across the world without being necessarily caught in the back in other countries, where you can sit in your country and get your business done in the U.S. and the UK”, he said.

Agbomoagan said technology has made borders irrelevant, allowing firms to collaborate globally without requiring lawyers to relocate or undergo multiple requalification processes.

“You can create legal networks of lawyers across the world. When I have a brief in the UK, all I need is to reach out to my partner there, we sign an agreement, give the advice and they handle the matter.”

Citing Brazil as a model, he noted that the country allows foreign lawyers to practise but restricts them to advise on the laws of their home countries, a system he urged Africa to adopt.

Agbomoagan, who serves as an evaluator and presiding judge at the International Criminal Court Moot in The Hague, said Africa’s contradictions are hindering its progress.

While AfCFTA promotes free movement of goods, he expressed worries that professionals still face severe mobility restrictions and suggested that legal professionals should champion a modern, integrated legal ecosystem in Africa.