Bibliographie sélective OHADA

This paper constitutes a composite analysis of the legal framework and procedures for removing directors and the key challenges presented by the framework. It achieves this by looking at four legal questions: Firstly, it looks into what is the legal framework for director removal in South Africa, secondly, it delves into the challenges and/or uncertainties presented by this process, and further explores if there are any possible learnings South Africa can learn from foreign jurisdiction.

Informal social security is a non-governmental form of social security between kin and/or community members and is a prevalent practice in South Africa. The question this dissertation analyses is whether the South African government fails in its constitutional duty to protect and advance informal social security. The dissertation limits itself to analysing cash transfers through social grants, and social insurance in the Unemployment Insurance Act and the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act. This dissertation delineates its definition of informal social security, historically contextualises its practice, and explains the contemporary formal social security framework. This dissertation finds five prominent shortcomings in the formal framework, and that these shortcomings have a profoundly negative, weakening effect on informal social security, as the more people who rely on informal mechanisms, the less it can respond to needs arising from life contingencies, shocks, and risks. The dissertation concludes by analysing three legal reform proposals the state can implement: extending existing social insurance frameworks to those in the informal sector, promoting cooperatives as a formal platform for the informal, and the basic income grant.

The practical application of international conventions like the Montreal Convention of 1999 and the OHADA Uniform Act of 2023 in the context of attaching goods onboard aircraft presents significant challenges. These frameworks do not explicitly address the attachment of such goods, focusing instead on liability and recovery procedures. The OHADA Uniform Act aims to simplify recovery processes but may struggle with conflicting national regulations and regional legal practices. The absence of specific legislation for attaching goods in-flight creates a critical gap, leading to uncertainty and inefficiency in enforcement. Addressing this gap in this paper requires developing targeted legal solutions that align with international standards while addressing the unique demand of air transport.

When an agency relationship is created, it confers on the parties obligations which must be fulfilled by the parties. These obligations do not remain forever as they can come to an end. This can be done under normal circumstances by the act of the parties or by operation of the law and when the conduct of the agent is in contradiction to the mandate agreement as may be the case if the agent is liable for serious misconduct as provided by the OHADA Uniform Act on General Commercial Law. The provisions of the act regarding termination on grounds of serious misconduct is worrisome, as the act talks about termination in such manner only for commercial agents and is silent about the other two types of agents: the broker and the commission agent. The act also, does not tell us what this serious misconduct it mentions by the commercial agent is, nor gives us insights on what constitutes such conduct to warrant termination of the mandate of the agent by the principal. When termination of the agency is done under conditions as such, it has grave consequences on the agent who might not be entitled to certain benefits associated with termination of the contract such as loss of the right to compensatory allowance or indemnity and more importantly may give room to arbitrary or wrongful termination of the mandate of the agent. Through analytical and comparative studies, this paper focuses on termination of the mandate of an agent under the OHADA Uniform Act on General Commercial Law, wherein, the different modes of termination of the mandate of an agent have been discussed, and more specifically makes an attempt in looking at what serious misconduct is and what could amount to such conduct so as to avoid arbitrary or wrongful termination. It is therefore suggested that, statutory guidelines found in other statutes in relation to the subject matter can serve as a lamp light in our context.

This editorial delves into the evolving context of doing business in Africa, tracing its journey from being dubbed the “hopeless continent” to becoming a beacon of hope and opportunity. Drawing on a wealth of scholarly research, it highlights Africa's increasing attractiveness for global investments, underscored by rising FDI inflows and the emergence of a vibrant middle class. Despite these promising trends, the editorial also sheds light on the persistent challenges, including institutional fragility and political instability, coupled with limited representation in the existing international business discourse. We advance a more nuanced understanding of Africa's business environment, emphasizing the need for responsible growth, improved governance, and sustainable development. Thus, the Special Issue offers insights into the complexities and challenges of doing business in Africa, as well as the paradoxes and potential for fostering competitiveness and inclusive growth on the global stage.

This dissertation investigates the impact of digital transformation on risk management within the banking sector, emphasizing the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in enhancing operational risk management. It examines key research questions about how digitisation reshapes risk management practices, the extent to which South African banks align with international standards, and the role of AI in advancing these frameworks. The study finds that AI holds substantial potential to improve risk management, particularly in managing operational risks, while underscoring the indispensable role of human oversight. Ultimately, this shift toward a more AI-driven, adaptive approach marks a pivotal evolution in the financial sector, suggesting that the future of risk management can indeed rely on AI's transformative capabilities.

To provide protection against harm caused by defective, unsafe products and to promote product safety, the law of product liability has developed as a specialized area of the law of delict (tort). The vexing question is, who should bear such liability? This contribution interrogates the notorious EU development risk defence, which exonerates manufacturers that meet certain stringent requirements for undiscoverable development risks in products that consequently inflict harm on consumers. In particular, it considers the election by South Africa, which recently adopted a “strict” product liability regime with the introduction of the Consumer Protection Act 2008, not to adopt such a defence. The purpose of this contribution is to consider the nature and scope of the development risk defence as contained in article 7(e) of the European Union (EU) Product Liability Directive and to determine whether it was prudent for South Africa to steer clear of incorporating a similar defence in its new statutory product liability regime.

Specific, more strict theories of product liability, which have now largely been maximally harmonised in the EU, have developed on the basis of a linear economic model. By using doctrinal and economic legal research, this thesis examines the state of EU product liability law and how it is tested by alternative, circular economic methods of distributing and producing consumer goods, like product reuse, repurposing, resales and other retransfers, repairs, refurbishments and remanufacturing. Besides direct relevance to circular economy in the consumer goods sector, this study of so-far overlooked questions offers new theoretical insights about product liability with broader academic and practical relevance. After a general introduction to the domains of product liability and circular economy, a normative framework is developed that blends distributive justice in terms of economic efficiency with corrective justice. Subsequently, it is argued that also in a more circular economic setting a more strict product liability rule like the EU harmonisation is preferable in light of this normative framework, while the added value of product liability increases compared to its main regulatory alternatives. The thesis then studies the application to the aforementioned circular strategies of current EU product liability law based on the 1985 Directive and its almost finally adopted 2024 successor. Overall, EU product liability law turns out to be quite versatile and its relevance in a more circular consumption sector is improved by several of the new proposed rules. Nevertheless, some limitations remain and also some interpretative issues are identified in the proposed new Directive, for which amendments are proposed. Les théories spécifiques et plus strictes de la responsabilité du fait des produits, qui ont maintenant été largement harmonisées au maximum dans l'UE, se sont développées sur la base d'un modèle économique linéaire. En utilisant la recherche doctrinale et économique en droit, cette thèse examine l'état du droit européen en matière de responsabilité du fait des produits et comment il est mis à l'épreuve par des méthodes économiques alternatives et circulaires de distribution et de production de biens de consommation, comme la réutilisation des produits, le réemploi, la revente et autres retransferts, les réparations, les reconditionnements et la refabrication. Outre une pertinence directe pour l'économie circulaire dans le secteur des biens de consommation, cette étude des questions jusqu'à présent négligées offre de nouvelles perspectives théoriques sur la responsabilité du fait des produits avec une pertinence académique et pratique plus large. Après une introduction générale aux domaines de la responsabilité du fait des produits et de l'économie circulaire, un cadre normatif est développé qui mélange la justice distributive en termes d'efficacité économique avec la justice corrective. Ensuite, il est soutenu que, même dans un cadre économique plus circulaire, une règle de responsabilité du fait des produits plus stricte comme l'harmonisation de l'UE est préférable à la lumière de ce cadre normatif, tandis que la valeur ajoutée de la responsabilité du fait des produits augmente par rapport à ses principales alternatives réglementaires. La thèse étudie ensuite l'application aux stratégies circulaires susmentionnées du droit actuel de l'UE en matière de responsabilité du fait des produits basé sur la Directive de 1985 et son successeur de 2024 presque adopté. Dans l'ensemble, le droit européen en matière de responsabilité du fait des produits se révèle assez polyvalent et sa pertinence dans un secteur de consommation plus circulaire est améliorée par plusieurs des nouvelles règles proposées. Néanmoins, certaines limitations subsistent et des questions d'interprétation sont également identifiées dans la nouvelle directive proposée, pour lesquelles des amendements sont proposés.

International trade rules enshrined in agreements like the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) promote free trade, with exceptions for environmental protection. This paper explores the tension between these rules and Earth Systems Science's concept of planetary boundaries, which define environmental tipping points beyond which humanity faces irreversible harm. We analyse GATT's provisions, particularly Article XI's prohibition on trade restrictions and Article XX's exceptions, through the lens of planetary boundaries. Our analysis argues that current interpretations of these articles are inadequate to address the environmental impact of raw material trade. We further examine the concept of permanent sovereignty over natural resources, which grants states autonomy over resource exploitation and trade. We posit that planetary boundaries are not a restriction on sovereignty but a call for modifying state trading behaviour and consequently how international trade rules is structured and interpreted. This analysis demonstrates the complexity of transforming the legal landscape necessary for a global just energy transition, a response to climate change that requires aligning international trade with environmental sustainability.

Specific, more strict theories of product liability, which have now largely been maximally harmonised in the EU, have developed on the basis of a linear economic model. By using doctrinal and economic legal research, this thesis examines the state of EU product liability law and how it is tested by alternative, circular economic methods of distributing and producing consumer goods, like product reuse, repurposing, resales and other retransfers, repairs, refurbishments and remanufacturing. Besides direct relevance to circular economy in the consumer goods sector, this study of so-far overlooked questions offers new theoretical insights about product liability with broader academic and practical relevance. After a general introduction to the domains of product liability and circular economy, a normative framework is developed that blends distributive justice in terms of economic efficiency with corrective justice. Subsequently, it is argued that also in a more circular economic setting a more strict product liability rule like the EU harmonisation is preferable in light of this normative framework, while the added value of product liability increases compared to its main regulatory alternatives. The thesis then studies the application to the aforementioned circular strategies of current EU product liability law based on the 1985 Directive and its almost finally adopted 2024 successor. Overall, EU product liability law turns out to be quite versatile and its relevance in a more circular consumption sector is improved by several of the new proposed rules. Nevertheless, some limitations remain and also some interpretative issues are identified in the proposed new Directive, for which amendments are proposed. Les théories spécifiques et plus strictes de la responsabilité du fait des produits, qui ont maintenant été largement harmonisées au maximum dans l'UE, se sont développées sur la base d'un modèle économique linéaire. En utilisant la recherche doctrinale et économique en droit, cette thèse examine l'état du droit européen en matière de responsabilité du fait des produits et comment il est mis à l'épreuve par des méthodes économiques alternatives et circulaires de distribution et de production de biens de consommation, comme la réutilisation des produits, le réemploi, la revente et autres retransferts, les réparations, les reconditionnements et la refabrication. Outre une pertinence directe pour l'économie circulaire dans le secteur des biens de consommation, cette étude des questions jusqu'à présent négligées offre de nouvelles perspectives théoriques sur la responsabilité du fait des produits avec une pertinence académique et pratique plus large. Après une introduction générale aux domaines de la responsabilité du fait des produits et de l'économie circulaire, un cadre normatif est développé qui mélange la justice distributive en termes d'efficacité économique avec la justice corrective. Ensuite, il est soutenu que, même dans un cadre économique plus circulaire, une règle de responsabilité du fait des produits plus stricte comme l'harmonisation de l'UE est préférable à la lumière de ce cadre normatif, tandis que la valeur ajoutée de la responsabilité du fait des produits augmente par rapport à ses principales alternatives réglementaires. La thèse étudie ensuite l'application aux stratégies circulaires susmentionnées du droit actuel de l'UE en matière de responsabilité du fait des produits basé sur la Directive de 1985 et son successeur de 2024 presque adopté. Dans l'ensemble, le droit européen en matière de responsabilité du fait des produits se révèle assez polyvalent et sa pertinence dans un secteur de consommation plus circulaire est améliorée par plusieurs des nouvelles règles proposées. Néanmoins, certaines limitations subsistent et des questions d'interprétation sont également identifiées dans la nouvelle directive proposée, pour lesquelles des amendements sont proposés.

This research uses a comparative approach to explore the role and liability of internet service providers in South Africa. The research aims to analyse and compare the role and liability of internet service providers for crimes and civil infractions committed by content providers and/or internet users. Against this aim, the researcher argues that internet service providers, as intermediaries, are ideally placed to monitor and control illicit content provision and/or internet use by the end user. The research focuses on South Africa, China, Ireland, and Nigeria. The research interrogated legislative control and queried the fitness for purpose of these mechanisms for internet service providers and the lacunae created by a rapidly expanding digital world comparatively. The research points out recurrent controversial and problematic concerns that affect both the internet service provider and the consumer. The researcher further explores challenges in applying legal imperatives to internet service providers that affect their end users. The comparative analysis assists in indicating how internet service providers operate in practice and their control (or lack thereof) by various legal frameworks. The researcher makes recommendations and offers solutions to assist with the future role and development of internet service providers and their impact on the end-user and criminal justice system.

The study explores the reaction of stock markets to anticipated or unexpected rating announcements by the market in a crisis context by conducting an empirical study on the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) stock market over the period from December 2010 to August 2022. The results show that the crisis context support the anticipation of bad ratings and neutral ratings as opposed to good ratings. These results validate the asymmetry in investor reaction to announcements of anticipated rating downgrades compared with announcements of upgrades in times of crisis. This reaction highlights the irrational behave of investors in times of crisis. In fact, when investors detect a risk concerning the financial situation of a stock, they anticipate a downgrade and react quickly, even before the official announcement of the downgrade, by selling their shares on masse. This action will cause the share price to fall. Similarly, the market’s weak reaction to early good announcements is explained by the fact that this type of announcement does not provide them with any unknown information to guide their financial decisions.

This research is driven by the rapid spread of fintech, and its contributions to Tanzania’s economic growth. This study uses quantitative quarterly time series data from Tanzania from 2008 to 2022. The Augmented Dicky Fuler (ADF) is used for the stationarity test, Johansen Cointegrations for the hypothesis and Cointegrations test, VAR and VECM for testing both short-run and long-run causality relationships, and Granger Causality for testing variable causality. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model is used for parameter estimation, modelling and significance testing. The results show that the model is statistically significant and the independent variables in the regression accounted for around 89% of the overall variation in GDP. Fintech variable subscriptions have a positive impact on Tanzania’s economic growth. Thus, unemployment in Tanzania may be alleviated by the growing sector of financial technology. Fintech has involved many people from all over the world, including Tanzania, and has had a positive impact on both the national economy and per capita growth. Since TTCL and ZANTEL have witnessed a sharp decline in subscriptions, the government, as a fixed-wired broadband service provider, must take the necessary steps to increase the subscriptions.

Paying taxes is essential to attaining sustainable economic growth and national economic independence, hence tax evasion is a concern for the economies of both wealthy and developing countries. This study examined how tax payer attitudes, particularly in the Singida Tax Region, affect tax evasion in Tanzanian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). This study employed a survey method in which data collection comprised both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. A multiple regression model was employed in combination with a descriptive study approach to ascertain the outcomes. 145 SMEs taxpayers made up the study's as a sample size. The findings demonstrate that, among SMEs in the Singida Region, peer influence, tax awareness, tax morale, and tax evasion have statistically significant relationships with the taxpayer's attitude. This association is supported by statistics. Consequently, the United Republic of Tanzanian government needs to consider how taxpayer attitudes including peer pressure, tax knowledge, and morale affect tax evasion. This will contribute to the goal of reducing tax avoidance by all taxpayers, including SMEs Taxpayers.

Rules of origin play a pivotal role in free trade agreements. Apart from serving as a tool to distinguish goods by determining the nationality of a product, rules of origin have the capacity to increase trade relations or deter it. Of course, it is the hope of any viable state to increase profitable trading relations, and if rules of origin can help with that, it becomes expedient to fully understand how these rules of origin operate. In Africa, we see rules of origin being implemented amongst the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), but this has come with many struggles. In fact, low intra-African trade can be narrowed down to complex rules of origin regimes deployed in regional agreements in Africa. As of date, the major RECs have each implemented different rules of origin, leading to the co-existence of conflicting rules of origin across Africa. This non-uniformity in the rules of origin regimes in Africa has resulted in low continental trade in Africa. As such, these RECs have not yielded the expected increase in intra-African trade. With the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which currently doubles as the latest and largest FTA in Africa, it is expected that better rules of origin will be deployed to mitigate the existing intra-African trade deficits. This thesis thus deploys a doctrinal approach in determining whether AfCFTA’s rules of origin are positioned to achieve greater intra-African trade. Consequently, this thesis uncovers some lapses in AfCFTA’s rules of origin and calls for harmonization of all the rules of origin in Africa and recommends a possible amendment to Article 19 of the Agreement establishing AfCFTA to accommodate the intended harmonization.

The traditional perception that trade-finance instruments are less susceptible to the risk of money laundering has changed due to the increasing threat of trade-based money laundering (TBML). In the process of facilitating trade-finance transactions, financial institutions may be entrapped in the dangers of TBML and be abused for criminal gains. In this regard, the institutions play a significant role in ensuring that only legitimate trade is facilitated through trade finance without being tainted by TBML. Despite that, vulnerabilities for the vice have been discovered in the trade-finance sector. This study employs a macro-comparative approach in examining how selected jurisdictions respond to the problem of TBML in trade-finance instruments. It analyses the vulnerabilities of documentary credits, documentary collections, demand guarantees and standby letters of credit to the potential risk of TBML. The thesis compares the response of the South African AML regime with that of the English, the US and Singapore AML regimes to the threat of TBML in the selected trade-finance instruments. The study reveals, inter alia, that there is not much difference between the South African AML regime and the AML regimes of the comparative jurisdictions in terms of the legislative response to the challenge of TBML in trade-finance transactions. However, the difference is apparent when it comes to the varied institutional responses to the problem within the jurisdictions considered in this thesis. While South African AML authorities have not made any official pronouncement against TBML in trade finance, those from other comparative jurisdictions have done so. The latter have also gone a step further to produce best practice reports on TBML for banks and other financial institutions involved in trade-finance transactions to enable the institutions to prepare for the challenge. However, similar to the South African position, there has not been any legislative change in the comparative jurisdictions to provide for TBML in specific terms. This means that these jurisdictions also deal with TBML using current AML legislation, which was designed originally for cash-based money-laundering operations. Therefore, the institutions and laws under the South African AML regime are relevant in the combatting of TBML. However, they may require some modifications to appropriately counter the challenge. The study makes various policy and best practice recommendations to strengthen the South African AML regime against TBML in trade-finance transactions.

This study examines the impact of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on regional trade in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Digital Technologies (DT) sector across 43 African countries from 2014 to 2021. Employing the augmented gravity model and confidence-level estimations, it highlights AfCFTA's mediating role in enabling ICT&DT trade on the continent. Using hierarchical regression analysis of a panel dataset comprising 5,160 observations, the findings imply that trade openness and productive capacities not only facilitate trade in the ICT&DT sector but also result in positive spillover effects across various economic sectors. This study contributes to the international business literature by refining the application of the gravity model to capture the need for sector-specific analyses to unpack institutional dynamics and dis-enablers of trade. It identifies AfCFTA as a pivotal yet underexplored element in the global trade landscape, highlighting its potential as Africa seeks a more prominent role on the global stage. The research stresses the significance of digital empowerment and policy reforms to maximise the benefits of regional integration under AfCFTA.

The international terms of the 2017 FIDIC Red Book (reprinted and amended in 2022) state that, when the contractor is a joint venture (JV), all members are jointly and severally liable to the employer. These terms also establish certain procedural rules—the most important ones being the submission to the employer of the JV undertaking and the appointment of a leader. However, these international terms do not provide for substantive rules pertaining to the plurality of the JV members. These require reference to the applicable law that governs the construction contract. The applicable law can be domestic law, such as Qatari law, or an international soft law, such as the Unidroit Principles. Comparing these two possibly applicable laws, it becomes evident that there are no significant differences between the two regarding the substantive rules concerning a plurality of obligors. Furthermore, it is argued that the majority of these substantive legal rules, whether national or international, are inoperative in a construction contract incorporating the international terms of the FIDIC Red Book.