Bibliographie sélective OHADA

With the progressive transformation of the Internet from a romanticised instrument of freedom and self-expression into a commercial platform for digital distribution, most websites must be recognised as access interfaces to a wide range of content and services. This paper examines the contracts purportedly governing the use of such content and services. It explores the difficulties of establishing legal intention in a context that is not unambiguously commercial or transactional and contrasts popular beliefs with the basic principles of contract law. It draws a clear distinction between contracts governing traditional e-commerce exchanges, such as buying books on Amazon.com, and contracts governing the very use of websites. In the latter instance, the website (ie the resources made available thereon) constitutes the subject matter of the transaction. Equal importance must be attributed to the fact that such contracts are formed on websites and to the fact that they govern their use. The website user will question the existence of a contract on the basis that he did not have an intention to be legally bound, or had no awareness that a transaction was taking place. The website operator will argue that, objectively, all prerequisites of a legally enforceable agreement have been met. The outcome of the discussion will, to a large extent, depend on whether the user’s beliefs and expectations can be regarded as reasonable and on whether it is the user or the operator who deserves the protection of the objective theory of contract.

En Afrique, en plus des ports généraliers historiques et urbains, on voit émerger un nouveau réseau portuaire d'interfaces, sorte de plateformes de transbordement qui semble vouloir accompagner la révolution du conteneur. Ces ports sont loin des villes et ancrés à l’hinterland par un réseau de transport multimodal, avec leurs logiques de localisation et fonctionnement spécifiques. La mise en place de ce nouveau paysage portuaire a provoqué une véritable guerre des terminaux sur les côtes africaines. Chaque pays veut construire son Hub portuaire, d’où le bousculement des leaders mondiaux du transport maritime conteneurisé sur les côtes africaines. Certainement l’arrivée des opérateurs internationaux, améliorera aussi bien les infrastructures que les superstructures portuaires et leurs connexions et renforcera encore plus la productivité des ports, mais en même temps, pour certains, cela dépossède les africains de ces installations vitales et stratégiques; a déjà mis à mort successivement des compagnies maritimes africaines depuis le début du 21è siècle, et a totalement mis la main des opérateurs internationaux sur les ports africains par le système des concessions, idem pour les sociétés de manutention sur les trafics conteneurisés des grandes plateformes africaines. Au niveau des ports et du transport maritime international, différents pays et sociétés européennes dominent ce marché en Afrique, mais au il des ans, l’Europe est de plus en plus supplantée par la Chine et autres pays asiatiques comme partenaires des pays africains. La Chine, devenant très rapidement premier partenaire commercial de l’Afrique, s’élança dans des projets gigantesques de construction des ports, chemin de fer et autoroutes..., surtout en Afrique Orientale. Exemples, en Tanzanie le projet du port de Bagamoyo au Nord de Dar es-Salaam, susceptible de traiter 20 millions de conteneurs par an. Le projet Sud-Soudan-Ethiopie Transport Lamu Port(LAPSSET), inclus dans la Vision du Kenya 2030,Le projet du futur port en eau profonde d’El Hamdania à Cherchell dans la wilaya de Tipaza, en Algérie. Face à ces développements, Tout d’abord, les experts se demandent s’il y a un besoin bien réel dans ce domaine. Si oui, quels sont les ports qui pourraient jouer le rôle de Hub de transbordement continental et dans quel pays et qui gagnera les concessions?. Nous, on se demande même s’il n y a pas trop de projets? On se dit encore plus que les projets de Hubs en Afrique sont même plus nombreux pour un continent qui ne présente pas encore les caractéristiques d’un tel choix. Enfin, face aux développements des inventions technologiques rapides dans le domaine des constructions portuaires et portes conteneurs, et en vue des capacités financières et économiques réduites des pays africains, n’est-il pas légitime de se poser la question: Pourquoi cette course effrénée des pays africains à construire cette nouvelle génération des ports, très couteuse? et à se livrer une concurrence hasardeuse surement? Est-ce que le nouveau concept de port mobile qui vient d’apparaître avec une forte caution scientifique et technologie, mis au point par les chercheurs coréens du KAIST (Korean Advanced Institute for Science & Technology), ne remet pas en cause cette stratégie de construction des ports de transbordement en Afrique, en vue de ses nombreux avantages dont son coût réduit, sa protection de l’environnement avec notamment la réduction d’émanations de gaz, la sécurité et la réduction des délais de déploiement ?

La règle de conflit, qui a toujours été au coeur du droit international privé, a connu d’importantes transformations depuis quelques années. Considérée comme rigide, parce qu’elle est focalisée sur la localisation spatiale du rapport de droit, elle est devenue de plus en plus flexible et privilégie désormais la justice matérielle au détriment de la justice conflictuelle. Plus encore, elle a même été supplantée par la méthode de la reconnaissance. Cependant, le droit international privé camerounais est resté attaché à la méthode conflictuelle classique, alors qu’il serait nécessaire de prendre en considération toutes ces transformations qui ne sont pas sans incidences sur le développement du droit international privé.

Cet article analyse les déterminants de la disposition des managers à formaliser les PME informelles en Côte d’Ivoire. Les données utilisées portent sur 400 entreprises du secteur informel enquêtées dans le cadre du projet CAPEC/CRDI¹. À partir des statistiques descriptives et de l’estimation d’un modèle Probit, l’étude met en évidence d’une part les variables qui influencent négativement et d’autre part celles qui influencent positivement la disposition à formaliser les PME. Il ressort de ces enquêtes que les taxes, le fait que l’entreprise soit dirigée par une femme, les coûts d’enregistrement, l’affiliation à une organisation politique et l’ignorance des procédures ont un effet négatif sur la disposition des managers à formaliser leurs entreprises. Les résultats montrent que la possession d’un plan d’affaires à la création, l’expérience du manager, la localisation, le niveau d’instruction supérieur, la simplification des procédures d’enregistrement affectent positivement la propension à formaliser les PME informelles. De même, les problèmes d’accès au financement et aux marchés publics conduisent les managers à la formalisation de leurs entreprises. Au regard de ces déterminants, la réduction des coûts de la formalisation, un meilleur accès des PME qui se formalisent au financement et aux marchés publics, le renforcement des capacités des opérateurs de l’informel, l’instauration d’une fiscalité incitative et la vulgarisation des procédures de déclaration s’avèrent des leviers importants de la formalisation. This paper analyzes the determinants of the willingness of managers to formalize informal SMEs in Côte d'Ivoire. The data used relate to 400 informal sector enterprises surveyed under the CAPEC / IDRC project. On the basis of descriptive statistics and the estimation of a Probit model, the study highlights both variables that negatively influence and those that positively influence the willingness to formalize SMEs. These surveys show that taxes, the fact that the company is headed by a woman, registration costs, affiliation to a political organization and ignorance of procedures have a negative effect on the formalization of businesses. Moreover, the results show that ownership of a business plan at creation, managerial experience, location, higher education, simplification of registration procedures positively affect the propensity to formalize informal SMEs. Similarly, the problems of access to finance and public procurement lead to more formalization. In view of these determinants, the reduction in the costs of formalization, better access by SMEs to financing and public procurement, capacity building for informal operators, the introduction of tax incentives and the Dissemination procedures are important levers of formalization.

The call for democracy worldwide is based on the assumption that it allows citizens involvement on how they are governed. Being a representative system of government, democracy is projected to make political leadership responsive and responsible to the entire citizenry of the state. Southern Africa region has the most animated economy in sub –Sahara Africa, and democratic ideals appear more firmly established in the region compared to other regions in Africa. This has made the region, among others in the continent, the preferred choice of many migrants from different parts of the world. It is believed that the region has reached its Eldorado. However, a close observation of the politics of that region tends to suggest there has been the institutionalization of democratic rule without commensurate enthronement of responsible and accountable governance. This study systematically examined the political configurations of the region to concretely determine how the practice of liberal democracy in the sub-region has translated to accountable and responsible governance and its overall impact of the living standard of the citizens of the countries of that region. The paper examined accountable governance in the sense that leaders will be able to mange resource of the state for the well being of the populace. The reverse has been the case for the region. Southern Africa needs a developmental and capable state for socio-economic progress and sustainable democracy. This cannot be achieved without responsible political leadership, which would be responsive to the yearnings of the people. The mode of analysis was based on secondary sources and observation method. The paper adopted secondary and observation techniques as the mode of analysis

This article examines the existing literature on trade liberalisation and its effect on the economies of developing countries. It will also briefly examine the theory of comparative advantage which is seen as justification for global trade liberalisation under the auspices of the World Trade Organization. This process is also associated with greater openness, economic interdependence and deepening economic integration with the world economy. The study is important because once again the international institutions strongly advocate trade and financial liberalisation in developing countries. The proponents of trade liberalisation argue that multilateral trade negotiations would achieve these goals, and poor countries particularly would benefit from it. However, such policies may increase vulnerability and make developing countries further hostages of international finance capital. Adoption of open market policies in agriculture would also mean the abandoning of self-reliance and food sovereignty, which may have wider consequences in terms of food shortages, food prices and rural employment.

Arbitration provides speedy mode of settlement of disputes between the parties. In the course of arbitration, the arbitration tribunal has an obligation to give a fair opportunity to the parties to present their case. The fair hearing or due process of law in arbitration requires that both parties must be treated equally and given opportunity to be heard, which include a party may request the other party for production of documents, which are relevant to the case. Hence, the international arbitration rules contained the provisions to order a party, on its own or on the request of a party, to produce the documents relevant to the outcome of the case. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, any denial of this opportunity may be considered as a violation of due process of law, consequently a party may challenge the enforcement of the award.

Pour faire face au phénomène de la mondialisation du marché international des affaires et des défis qu’il met en jeu, le développement économique semble s’orienter de plus en plus vers une approche régionale afin de mieux défendre les intérêts nationaux pourtant souvent contradictoires. En effet, la mondialisation de l’économie exige la mondialisation du droit., l’un des exemples le plus illustratif, nous viens de l’Afrique, qui a privilégié l’intégration régionale par le droit des affaires, à travers la création de l’Organisation de l’OHADA qui devait permettre à une partie de l’Afrique de mieux s’intégrer à l’économie mondiale, de faciliter les échanges entre les Etats parties, d’attirer les investisseurs étrangers, et de mettre fin à l’insécurité juridique. Selon les initiateurs du traité OHADA, l’intégration économique qui est une condition sine qua non du développement de la région, ne peut réussir, qu’à travers la mise en place d’une harmonisation du droit des affaires. Le fonctionnement de L’OHADA s’appuie sur un certain nombre d’organes et sur l’élaboration de plusieurs Actes Uniformes touchant au domaine du Droit des Affaires constituant ainsi le droit dérivé. Néanmoins face à un environnement économique et juridique en constante évolution, l’OHADA était dans l’obligation de mener des réformes d’ordre institutionnel et normatif.

The purpose of this study is to present the main facets of online dispute resolution, including a definition of the term, the types of resolution available, and the most recent legal regulations in this area. The article is an in-depth study of this field, discussing online mediation and electronic arbitration, their uses and their relationships with e-commerce. The strengths and weaknesses of online dispute resolution are identified and used to help formulate de lege ferenda stipulations. The paper is divided into three parts. Part I looks at preliminary aspects of online dispute resolution (ODR), including a definition of the term and an examination of its phases of development, implementation examples and the relationship between ODR and technology. Part II is devoted to examining the two most frequent forms of ODR: online mediation and electronic arbitration. Part III is an analysis of consumer disputes arising from commercial transactions made using electronic communications. As an example of the implementation of ODR, the author emphasises the importance of new European regulations on that and alternative dispute resolution (ADR): Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22/EC (Directive on consumer ADR), and Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22/EC (Regulation on consumer ODR).

The use of mobile communication devices such as mobile phones, smartphones, tablet computers or notebooks with access to the internet has become an everyday phenomenon in today's business world. However, whenever mobile communications are used for the purposes of contract formation, that is, the mobile dispatch of offers or acceptances, the mobility of the communicating parties raises important difficulties for the application of traditional legal rules: The fact that messages transmitted via phone, email or SMS can be dispatched and received  at virtually any  place on  earth challenges the categories of private international law and international contract law, which are based on the (unspoken) assumption that parties communicate from their home country. The existing legal framework for cross-border contracts therefore hardly takes into account the possibility that parties may move across borders, and that the place of their communications may accordingly vary.The present article addresses the legal difficulties and uncertainties that cross­ border  mobile communication  raises under international rules of law. It elaborates on the traditional role of the site of communication in this context before scrutinising how 'mobility friendly' the provisions  of the relevant  conventions  developed  by the United Nations, the Hague Conference for Private International Law and other organisations  are. In doing  so,  it critically  discusses  in particular article 10(3) of the UN Electronic Communications Convention of 2005, the most recent attempt at regulating mobile communications. Finally, it identifies a number of problems that have hitherto been overlooked (as notably the interaction of article 10(3) of the UN Electronic Communications Convention with traditional private international law rules on the formal validity of contracts) and proposes appropriate solutions.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays an important role in the world economy and has the potential to contribute towards accelerating the process of economic growth and sustainable development in the least developed countries (LDCs). The paper provides a brief overview of recent trends and patterns in FDI flows to the LDCs, and then takes stock of the policies, programmes and measures pursued by host and home countries and by international organizations to stimulate FDI flows to LDCs and increase their benefits for these countries. It then lays out a number of policy proposals on how flows to LDCs, and the benefits associated with them, can be enhanced. Finally, it outlines some options for international action to strengthen such efforts – proposals and options that are also relevant to other developing countries.

This study examined economic integration through trade between BRIGS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries and sub-Saharan Africa. The study examines the comparative advantages of the two economic blocks with respect to the exportation of merchandise (food, agricultural raw materials, fuels, ores and metals, and manufactures). The findings of this study reveal the actual status of these two regions as economic partners in each of the five subsectors of merchandise exports.The  trend  shows  that,  with  the  exception  of  manufactures  exports, the competitiveness of all subsectors of the merchandise  exports of  BRIGS is characterised by a  declining  trend.  BRIGS has  a  comparative  advantage in the world in the exportation of manufactures and fuels, and comparative disadvantage in the export of food, agricultural raw materials, and ores and metals.  Interestingly, manufactures are  continuously  and consistently  in a steadily rising trend. This is evidence that BRIGS's structural transformation towards higher valued-added commodities is proceeding well, which means that policy makers should be considering ways of enhancing it further.In the case of sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of manufactures exports, it is found to have comparative advantages in all merchandise exports. Sub- Saharan Africa’s competitive advantage is the highest in the exportation of ores and metals, followed by fuels, agricultural raw materials and food. Sub-Saharan Africa has a comparative disadvantage in the export of manufactures throughout the period considered in this study. This implies that the prospects of structural transformation to downstream of the higher value-added commodities export part of the supply chain are good: the slow pace of transformation towards higher value-added goods should therefore be demanding the attention of policy makers. The study has revealed that sub-Saharan Africa is more competitive than BRICS in the exportation of ores and metals, fuel, agricultural raw materials and food. On the other hand, BRICS is more competitive than sub-Saharan Africa in the export of manufactures.The study has also revealed that significant economic integration can be sustained  between  BRICS  and  sub-Saharan  Africa  in  the  exportation  of all merchandise subsectors. Specifically, sub-Saharan Africa is a potential destination market for BRICS’s exports of manufactures. Conversely, BRICS is also a potential destination market for sub-Saharan Africa’s exports of ores and metals, fuel, agricultural raw materials and food.Economic integration between BRICS and sub-Saharan Africa favourably influences peace and stability in the regions. Sustaining peace and stability in these regions also favourably influences the wellbeing of the communities.

Economic co-operation and integration brings with it a need to harmonise mechanisms for the regulation of international trade, not only at a public-law level between states but also at a private-law level between traders inter partes. It is often forgotten that differences in the substantive law applicable to a contract function as a non-tariff barrier to trade. Because international trade facilitates economic development, the focus in this article is on the harmonisation of sales laws. Traditionally, private law harmonisation has been conducted by international private or inter-state organisations that specialise in the harmonising of law at a global level. Today, private organisations and groups devoted to harmonising business laws, as well as regional economic integration organisations, are also pursuing legal harmonisation. Global, regional and domestic laws now all exist in the same area of the law, which can give rise to duplication of efforts and problems with the co-existence of global and regional sales law. This article will discuss these issues with reference to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and selected regional laws in considering whether regional harmonisation can act as a stepping stone towards increased harmonisation at a global level or whether it is to be viewed as a threat to global integration and harmonisation.

Globalisation and the increasing movement of capital and labour across international borders, with the exception of migrant workers who are facing major obstacles due to immigration laws, are creating a situation where laws in general and labour laws in particular are acquiring an international character. International bodies such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organisation and the European Union have adopted various international norms and standards to which most countries have agreed and which have established minimum international standards for basic universal human rights and worker rights. The Southern African Development Community is a transnational organisation that has also adopted certain basic norms and standards in its Treaty, Charter on Fundamental Social Rights and various protocols that are applicable to all citizens within the Community. In this contribution, the concept of transnational labour relations is considered. The different international approaches towards transnational labour relations are evaluated, as is the manner in which the European Union approached the integration of regional labour standards. The author seeks to establish what the Southern African Development Community can learn from the European Union’s experience and in what way a transnational labour relations system or regional labour standards regime for the Southern African Development Community can be established.

In Congolese law, the legal capacity of the married women is subjected to certain limitations. These restrictions include, notably, the exercise of professional activities for which marital authorization is a legal requirement. This is why some consider the adherence of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to OHADA as an opportunity in favour of the married woman, claiming that all provisions of domestic law clinging on the legal incapacity of the latter are automatically repealed because supposedly contrary to the uniform Acts, and in this case the uniform Act relating to general commercial law (AUDCG). This paper attempts to meticulously analyse the alleged contribution resulting from the OHADA law and manages to demonstrate that the status of the married woman in professional matters from the standpoint of OHADA has indeed not changed. A first step in that direction could have been for the AUDCG to explicitly recognize the married woman's ability to freely engage into trade. Unfortunately the corresponding provision only deals with the status of the spouse of the trader, thus leaving the issue of legal capacity of the married woman on commercial matters to the national laws of each of the member states. Even though some progress in commercial law may be recognized, this could not cover other professions governed by national legislation and that are, consequently, out of the scope of the Uniform Acts. Hence, a genuine reform in order to release the married women from the marital authorization regime is a necessity.