Business Law in Africa: Ohada and the Harmonization Process (Global Market Briefings)

360 Pages·2007·1.95 MB·English

by  Boris Martor

Business Law in Africa

GLOBAL MARKET BRIEFINGS

Business Law in Africa:

OHADA and the

Harmonization

Process

Second Edition

Boris Martor

Nanette Pilkington
David S. Sellers
SébastienThouvenot
Publishers’note
Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in
thispublicationisaccurateatthetimeofgoingtopressandneitherthepublishers
nor any of the authors, editors, contributors or sponsors can accept responsibility
for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for loss or damage
occasionedtoanypersonacting,orrefrainingfromaction,asaresultofthematerial
inthispublicationcanbeacceptedbytheeditors,authors,thepublisheroranyofthe
contributorsorsponsors.

Usersandreadersofthispublicationmaycopyordownloadportionsofthematerial
hereinforpersonaluse,andmayincludeportionsofthismaterialininternalreports
and/or reports to customers, and on an occasional and infrequent basis individual
articles from the material, provided that such articles (or portions of articles) are
attributedtothispublicationbyname,theindividualcontributoroftheportionused
andGMBPublishingLtd.

Users and readers of this publication shall not reproduce, distribute, display, sell,
publish,broadcast,repurpose,orcirculatethematerialtoanythirdparty,orcreate
new collective works for resale or for redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse
any copyrighted component of this work in other works,without the prior written
permissionofGMBPublishingLtd.

GMBPublishingLtd.

HerefordHouse

23-24SmithfieldStreet 525South4th Street,#241

LondonEC1A9LF Philadelphia,PA19147

UnitedKingdom UnitedStatesofAmerica

www.globalmarketbriefings.com

FirstpublishedbyKoganPageLtd.in2002.

Thissecondeditionpublishedin2007byGMBPublishingLtd.

©BorisMartor,NanettePilkington,DavidS.Sellers,SébastienThouvenot

ISBN-13:978-1-84673-072-6

ISBN-10:1-84673-072-4

BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData

ACIPrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary

LibraryofCongressCataloguing-inPublicationData

Typesetin10/12ptNewCenturySchoolbookbyIntegraSoftwareServicesPvt.Ltd,
Pondicherry,India

PrintedbyTheOrientalPress,TheKingdomofBahrain
Contents

Foreword vi

TheAuthors ix

Introduction x

1 WhatIsOHADA? 1

2 Institutions 5

3 GeneralConsiderationsonOHADAUniformActs 16

4 GeneralCommercialLaw 29

5 CommercialCompaniesandEconomicInterestGroups 59

6 AccountingLaw 141

7 CollectiveProceedingsfortheClearingofDebts 147

8 Securities 178

9 ContractsfortheCarriageofGoodsbyRoad 215

10 SimplifiedRecoveryProceduresandEnforcementMeasures 234

11 ArbitrationLaw 259

12 TheLegalContextBeyondOHADA 285

AppendixA: EssentialItemstoConsiderBeforeInvestinginan

OHADAMemberState 301

AppendixB: InvestmentCodesintheOHADAMemberStates 305

AppendixC: MapsandChartofRegionalOrganizations 307

AppendixD: RCCMForms 310

AppendixE: UsefulAddressesandWebsites 318

Glossary 321

Bibliography 330

Index 339
Foreword

ThepublicationofabookinEnglishdealingwithOHADAisaveryimportant

event.

The idea of harmonizing the law was first proposed by the Ministers of

FinanceoftheFrancZoneatameetinginOuagadougou,wheretheyvoiced

theirawarenessthatthesituationasitexistedatthattimewasoneoflegal

andjudicialuncertaintythatwashardlyconducivetoinvestment.Asaresult,

they decided in 1991 to appoint a high-level working group to try to find a

solutiontotheproblem.

After many months of research and of contacts with theAfrican author-

ities,theworkinggroupbecameconvinced,asaresultofitslengthyinvesti-

gations,thatitwasnecessarytoproceedwiththeharmonizationofbusiness

lawwithintheframeworkoftheestablishmentofastateoflaw.Initsview,if

suchaprojectcouldbebroughtintobeing,thiswouldhavebeneficialconse-

quences,inparticularwithregardtothepossibilityforeachStatetohaveat

itsdisposalmodernlegislationevenintheabsenceofthenecessaryhuman

resources,tobenefitfromcross-borderexchanges,delocalizationandcompe-

tition,toenjoylegalandjudicialsecurityand,inaword,tobenefitfromthe

returnandenhancementofinvestmentasaresultoftherestoredconfidence

ofeconomicoperators.

Thisharmonizationwasallthemorenecessarygiventhatexamplestaken

inparticularfromcompanylawandfromthesystemofcollectiveinsolvency

proceedingsclearlyshowedthatthelegislativeactivitythathadbeenunder-

takenbytheStatesofFrench-speakingAfricaaftertheirindependencehad

led to disparities that were prejudicial to the establishment and growth of

businesses.

Sincethe1980s,certainStateshadundertakenandachievedthemodern-

ization of their legislation, whereas others had remained with the Code

Napoléon, dating from 1807, together with a law on sociétés anonymes

and a law on sociétés à responsabilité limitée dating from 1867 and 1925,

respectively.

There can be no doubt that this situation was counter-productive within

thecontextofeconomieswhoseambitionwastoachieveintegration.

Butinadditiontothedisparities,therewasalsouncertaintyastotheexact

contours of the body of law from one country to another, and even within

single countries. Other subjects of concern were the inadequate training

in business law that had been received by judges and other legal officers,

the difficulties in exploiting cross-border resources, and the need to find a

solutiontotheproblemsoflandlockedcountries.

On the basis of these findings,the working group considered that it was

necessarytoestablishanauthoritytoissuethenewlaw,acourttoapplyit,

acentreforthetrainingandfurtherspecializationofjudgesatahighlevel

and a streamlined administrative body to coordinate the operations of the

variousinstitutions.Inaword,aneworganizationhadtobecreated.
Foreword vii
TheideasputforwardbytheworkinggroupweresubmittedtofourHeads

of State,seven Prime Ministers,some 40 Ministers,Presidents of National

Assemblies and of Economic Councils, Presidents of Supreme Courts and

other high-level judges, presidents of bar associations and of chambers of

commerce,personsinchargeofinternationalorganizationsandbusinessmen

ofallnationalities.Onallsides,theideaswerewelcomedfavourablyandeven

enthusiastically.

ThesameideaswerethendiscussedatmeetingsofMinistersofJusticeand

duringseminarsandroundtablesorganizedwiththeassistanceofspecialists

inbusinesslaw.

TheOHADAinstitutionsarethefollowing:

• theCouncilofMinisters;

• theCommonCourtofJusticeandArbitration(CCJA);

• thePermanentSecretariatand

• theRegionalTrainingCentreforLegalOfficers(ERSUMA).

Infact,OHADAisalegaltoolforeconomicintegrationanddevelopment:

economicintegrationbecausetherecanbenoeconomicintegrationwithout

legalintegration.

Legal integration is what OHADA is achieving. The simplification and

harmonization of the applicable law, both on the legislative plane and in

courtdecisions,andthecertaintythatitengendersareconsideredasfactors

that will stimulate growth by encouraging economic operators to invest in

Africa.

Untilnow,bothnationalandforeigneconomicoperatorswerehaltedbythe

legalandjudicialinsecuritythatwasprevalentintheFrancZonecountries.

It is to be hoped that the unification of laws and the unification of court

decisionswillhavetheexpectedeffects.

Although OHADA was conceived in a French-speaking area, African

leadershavequicklycometounderstandthatthispricelesstoolofeconomic

integration should be extended to other countries. Guinea-Bissau and

Equatorial Guinea soon became members, and now, with the advent

of NEPAD, OHADA’s extension to English-speaking African countries is

inevitable.

ThefriendsofOHADAwhobelieveinitssuccesshavefoundedanassoci-

ation for the unification of law inAfrica called UNIDA.Any individuals or

companieswhoareofthesameopinionareinvitedtojoinUNIDA.

UNIDAhassetitselftheaimsofsupportingOHADAinitsactivitiesandin

particular of spreading knowledge of its harmonized law throughoutAfrica

andelsewhere.

It is true that OHADA was conceived by the financial authorities of the

French-speaking area. But ever since its creation in Libreville in 1992,

OHADA has been open to all African countries without any linguistic

discrimination.
viii Foreword
The publication at this time of a book in English on this important

institution for legal integration, which was originally designed for French-

speaking Africa and which is without any doubt the prelude to economic

integration,is clearly a major event in the life of OHADA;and on behalf of

UNIDA,Icanonlyapplauditwithenthusiasm.

Thisiswhy,astheformerPresidentoftheSteeringCommitteethatwas

responsiblefordrawingupthefirstOHADAlegaltexts,andasthePresident

of UNIDA, I wholeheartedly support the welcome initiative that has been

takenofpublishingthisnewbook,whichshouldbeofgreatassistanceboth

asaresearchtoolandasameansofspreadingknowledgeandunderstanding

ofOHADAlaw,thefuturelawoftheUnitedAfricathathassorecentlybeen

createdbytheHeadsofState.

JudgeKébaMbaye†
PresidentofUNIDA(AssociationforaUnifiedSystemofBusinessLaws)
FormerPresidentoftheSteeringCommittee
responsiblefortheimplementationoftheOHADAProject

† Thisforewordwasoriginallypublishedinthefirsteditionofthisbook,publishedin2002.
Sadly, Judge Mbaye, who was the driving force behind the creation of OHADA, and who

continuedtogiveithiswholeheartedsupportinhiscapacityasPresidentofUNIDA,passed

awayon11January2007.Theauthorsdedicatethisneweditionasatributetohismemory,
inthehopethatitwillassist,howevermodestly,inpromotingthelegalintegrationthatJudge
Mbayeconsideredanessentialprerequisiteforachievingeconomicintegrationanddevelopment
inAfrica.
The Authors

• BorisMartor,AvocatàlaCourdeParis

• NanettePilkington,AvocatàlaCourdeParis

• DavidS.Sellers,Solicitor,England&Wales,AvocatàlaCourdeParis

• SébastienThouvenot,AvocatàlaCourdeParis,Docteurendroit

aremembersoftheprojectsteamintheParisofficeofEversheds.Theyhave
advised both investors and governments on major infrastructure projects
and the settlement of disputes in a wide variety of African countries and
withaparticularemphasisontheOHADAMemberStates.
Eversheds is an international law firm with offices in the UK, Europe,
the Middle East and Asia. The Paris office of Eversheds was established
over40yearsago,underthenameFrereCholmeley.Itiswellknownforits
businesslawpractice,bothinFranceandabroad,aswellasforinternational
arbitrationandpublicinternationallaw.
This book has been written in close collaboration with twoAfrican legal
experts:

• AdesegunA.Akin-Olugbade,GeneralCounseloftheAfricanDevelopment
Bank

• Dr Martha Simo Tumnde, née Njikam, Barrister and Solicitor of the

SupremeCourtofCameroon,andHeadofDepartmentofLawandDean

of the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, University of Buea,

Cameroon

The authors also thank Séverine Hatchuel-Benne, Pauline Roullet de La

BouillerieandSylvaineWalter,allofEversheds,fortheirvaluableassistance

inpreparingthissecondeditionforpublication.