Kenyan ex-judge stresses need for arbitration promotion in Africa

A former High Court judge in Kenya, professor of law and consultant, Edward Torgbor, has stressed the need to promote African arbitration to an international level.

He said in doing so, “arbitration will be more effective as a way of resolving conflict in the continent”.

Torgbor, who was one of the speakers at the “Arbitration in Africa Conference”, held at the Lagos Court of Arbitration, stated that the purpose of the conference was to focus on diagonising the reasons African seats and courts do not feature prominently in international arbitration practice.

Speaking on the theme: “Re-thinking the role of courts and judges in supporting arbitration in Africa”, Torgbor said there is need for arbitration to function with the least intervention of the courts.

He also said arbitration, as a means of conflict resolution, needs to be independent in order to win public and international confidence.

“There are many experienced arbitrators in Africa and the trust of the conference is to elevate the profile of these arbitrators to an international level and at the same time, begin to handle African dispute in Africa”, he added.

Also, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mrs. Olufunke Adekoya, speaking on what should be the relationship between arbitration and court, noted that:

“Arbitration cannot stand alone, but needs the support of judges all the world to survive”.

She described the conference as well structured in interrogating the four stakeholders in arbitration, which include the institution, court and judges and states and practitioners.