BUJUMBURA, October 5th (ABP) – The OHADA club of Burundi (Organization for the Harmonization of Business Rights in Africa), with the support of the French Embassy to Burundi, organized on the evening of October 3, 2023, a conference-debate on the theme “Business law in Burundi: issues and perspectives”.
This event which brought together legal actors in Burundi including lawyers, notaries, judges, researchers from the University of Burundi, chambers of commerce, associations of lawyers, was honored with the presence of the representative of the vice president of the Republic of Burundi, Mr. Arnaud Irakoze.
In his speech, Mr. Irakoze indicated that the modernization of business law in Burundi is not only necessary, but also imperative. He added that no country in the world has developed without putting in place a legal framework that ensures the security of economic operators.
According to him, the government of Burundi, through the sectoral strategy of the Ministry of Justice, has taken note that commercial justice constitutes the lifeblood of economic development. Thus, he affirmed, the government has made firm commitments which consist of ensuring the modernization and professionalization of commercial justice, as well as the establishment of a system for alternative methods of resolving commercial disputes.
Mr. Irakoze also indicated that Burundi has just demonstrated the importance it attaches to regional and continental economic integration, by ratifying the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (ZLECAF). Furthermore, he specified, in the same logic, the government of Burundi, through the Ministry of Justice, has just launched a call for expressions of interest to carry out a feasibility study on Burundi’s membership at OHADA.
To benefit from that continental exchange framework, he stressed that Burundi needs to modernize its business law in order to reassure economic operators and attract foreign investments. A good framework for commercial exchange and modern business law constitute ingredients, the complementarity of which will make it possible to maintain Burundi in the dynamic of economic emergence by 2040 and a developed country by 2060, he said.
The French Ambassador to Burundi, Mr. Jérémie Blin, noted in his speech that OHADA aims to harmonize business law within the States Parties (seventeen States so far), essentially from West Africa and Central Africa.
He added that the desire of Member States is to create a secure legal framework for national and international investors by adopting common rules of law (uniform acts).
In thirty years, OHADA has established itself as an original model of African legal integration aimed at making law a lever for economic and social progress, hence it is important to improve the business climate in Burundi to promote private sector development and attracting foreign investment. According to Mr. Blin, Burundi’s membership in OHADA would be a mobilizing prospect.
During the discussions, the participants were able to address certain challenges which manifest themselves especially at the level of justice, where it is seen in particular that there are no laws which encourage investors to come to Burundi, corruption and slowness of Justice.
But, to support the vision of Burundi emerging in 2040 and developed in 2060, they saw that there are quite a few things to put in place, in this case digitalization where recordings are now made online, different partners who support the Ministry of Justice in order to be able to digitize the courts and tribunals and improve the technological system. They also affirmed that Burundi, by joining OHADA, will constitute a guarantee of modernization of the business climate and better integration of Burundi into major regional economic groups. Its integration will not only guarantee legal and judicial security for businesses, but also attract foreign investments, increase economic exchanges and make the African Continental Free Trade Area (ZLECAF) effective.