Bibliographie sélective OHADA

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.

Les courants de la mondialisation des marchés, marqués par la libre circulation des capitaux et le phénomène du libre-échange ont favorisé la mise en œuvre de politiques communautaires de relance économique et d’attractivité des territoires. C’est dans cette lancée que des regroupements géographiques à visée économique comme la Communauté Économique et Monétaire de l’Afrique Centrale (CEMAC) sont apparus. Six pays de l’Afrique Centrale dont le Cameroun, le Congo, le Gabon, la Guinée Equatoriale, la République Centrafricaine et le Tchad en sont membres et font l’objet de notre analyse sur l’attractivité économique de l’investissement Direct étranger (IDE) dans cette sous-région. L’IDE est devenu un acteur incontournable du processus de développement, et la zone CEMAC une destination privilégiée pour les investisseurs. Il apparait néanmoins une ambiguïté dans les rapports entre le flux d’IDE, la croissance économique et le développement des pays membres de la CEMAC : le taux sans cesse croissant des flux d’IDE entrants dans la sous-région, n’est malheureusement pas toujours synonyme de croissance économique. Pour comprendre ce paradoxe, l’on procède à une analyse des instruments encadrement de l’IDE dans la sous-région CEMAC. Il en ressort que, pour un rendement optimal de ces dispositifs et la garantie d’une croissance économique à long terme dans ces États, il est nécessaire d’associer les politiques actuelles d’attractivité économique des IDE, à une diversification des domaines économiques exploitables , mais aussi adapter les standards internationaux aux spécificités socioculturelles mais aussi économiques de la sous-région CEMAC.

I) L’indifférence du statut de la puissance publique dans l’applicabilité du droit communautaire A) La prépondérance du critère matériel d’application du droit communautaire 1) Le critère de commercialité dans la législation OHADA 2) L’entreprise dans la législation UEMOA B) Le maintien exceptionnel du critère organique pour l’application du droit communautaire 1) Une immunité d’exécution conférée aux organismes publics 2) L’élargissement par la CCJA du spectre des personnes bénéficiaires de l’immunité d’exécution II) Une restriction du champ d’application du droit administratif A) L’expansion du doit communautaire dans les secteurs d’activité de la puissance publique 1) La soumission du service public aux règles concurrentielles 2) L’immixtion du droit privé dans le domaine des contrats administratifs B) Le contournement du juge de l’administration 1) Le droit pour les personnes publiques de recourir à l’arbitrage 2) La renonciation par l’administration à son privilège de juridiction Conclusion

This seminar paper considers whether OHADA - an experiment in unifying business law in African countries - has been a success. Following a prologue that explains the origins of the paper, the first part of the paper sets out basic information about the Organisation pour l’Harmonisation du Droit des Affaires en Afrique (“Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa,” known by the acronym OHADA). This part is followed by a review of law and development literature to assess the value of this literature for an evaluation of the success (or not) of OHADA. A third part then focuses on one specific uniform law, the law of secured transactions. The paper concludes that notwithstanding challenges the OHADA institutions exist and have produced uniform business laws for the formal business sector. Whether OHADA has been the cause of increased investment and trade requires studies that have not been carried out.

In Europe and especially in France, the African business law landscape, as well as the legal discourse, for developing West African countries is almost exclusively dedicated to OHADA, the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa, created in 1993. While economic development in the Member States is the obvious underlying reason for the modernization and unification of African business law, the exact nature of such development remains uncertain, as does the manner in which a such result can or will be achieved. OHADA’s Uniform Acts are, with some minor exceptions, a carbon copy of French business law. The only goal is to increase international investment, which, in turn, is expected to generate economic development, but all without taking any notice of equality or social justice issues. That, without a doubt, is the reason why OHADA is constantly criticized as a law that benefits foreign investors, while remaining ineffective, even illusory, for local traders. To go beyond the criticism, the authors have decided to focus on the relationship between law and the informal sector and to draw lines between formal and informal rules in the business sector.

The failure by Sothern African Development Community (SADC) countries to fully implement the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communications and Meteorology (the Protocol) and bilateral agreements in regard to road transport negatively impacts the seamless movement of cross border road transport and significantly contributes to the challenges faced by the cross border industry as a whole. The full implementation of the Protocol in regard to road transport, and bilateral agreements would lead to efficient cross border transport regulation and transportation and in turn culminate in reduction of challenges facing the sector. This would lead to reduction of transportation costs, improvement in productivity, and accelerated growth in intra-regional trade, regional economic integration and overall SADC socio-economic development. This paper outlines the extent to which the provisions of the Protocol and bilateral agreements have been implemented by SADC countries and the key challenges emanating from the partial operationalisation of the instruments. The paper is based on findings from engagements with key government and private sector stakeholders in the regional transport environment and various research conducted by the C-BRTA between 2011 and 2014. The partial operationalisation of the instruments has resulted in disjointed regulatory frameworks and inability to: holistically address corridor constraints/ non-tariff barriers, facilitate seamless cross border movements, facilitate liberalisation of access to transport markets in the region, harmonise standards and procedures, and facilitate economic growth and trade between SADC countries. It is possible for the SADC region to realise the aspirations set out in the Protocol and bilateral agreements, and this paper outlines some of the solutions. To begin with, there is need for SADC countries to embrace the need to eradicate the existing self-centric regulatory approach limited to micro-needs and market protectionism. This would need to be underpinned by strong orientation towards the need to achieve macro benefits emanating from a regional perspective in regard to regulating cross border road transport movement. Taking off from this departure point, SADC countries can objectively establish a solid ground towards fully operationalising the Protocol and bilateral agreements. This paper outlines some of the interventions that can be implemented to ensure SADC countries fully operationalise the provisions of the Protocol on transport and bilateral agreements.

This paper explores the feasibility of commercial arbitration as a means to foster the process of Eastern Africa integration. The author proffers an argument in the context of Eastern Africa integration, that commercial arbitration offers a better platform for dealing with commercial disputes that are bound to arise considering the differing personal or state interests in the ongoing Eastern Africa integration, as compared to national Courts. This discourse is premised on the fact that the five member countries making up the East African Community (EAC) have different legal systems and this presents a major challenge in harmonising the various legal systems. This also affects the possible use of courts in managing the potential transnational commercial disputes due to the potentially different rules of procedure and practice. The paper briefly examines the state of commercial arbitration in the EAC Member States with a view to identifying the existing frameworks and any impediments in their effectiveness. Finally, the author makes a case for utilizing commercial arbitration to build bridges and foster Eastern Africa integration for development.

This thesis identifies and defines the new African sovereignty. It establishes a modern sovereignty in Africa hatched from the changing nature of sovereignty in which countries come together at various levels or grades of partial surrender of national sovereignty in order to work closer together for their mutual advantage and benefit. To this end, the narrative zooms in on the central issues within the realms of money matters whereby a new model of monetary sovereignty and monetary solutions is designed in an attempt to ease the recurring tensions and challenges of modern national sovereignty in the continent of Africa. As such, this discussion will offer a historical journey through the constitution of sovereignty, to the birth of the nation state and international public law. It develops the theory of the changing nature of sovereignty within the modern state and opens new lines of inquiry for Africa. In this regard, it draws from juxtaposing and mixing elements of regional and global financial integration as well as retaining national financial sovereignty features to form this new design which I dub continental sovereignty. At its core, the thesis will deal with the legal aspects that stem from the co-mingling of legal systems of nation states and communities at the regional and global levels within the context of financial integration. The argument is that the rule of law remains sacrosanct in monetary management. Effective financial integration is the result of properly structured and managed legal frameworks with robust laws and institutions whether at a national, regional or global level. However, the thesis reveals that in order to avoid undermining the progress of Africa’s financial integration project, any solution for Africa must be immersed within a broader global solution where development issues are addressed and resolved and Africa can form a more central part in all relevant international discussion fora. The work will expound these issues by applying them within a regional and global context, with the state of affairs in Africa forming the nucleus. This application consequently presents the six key themes of the thesis which will be considered therein. They are: a.) regional advantage: which exploits the possibilities of deeper and further financial integration between smaller communal arrangements; b.) regional risk and exposure: the extent to which this deeper form of financial integration can spiral out of control if effected too quickly and too ambitiously; c.) global advantage: which considers the merits of global financial integration and the influence exerted by financial laws on the global financial architecture; d.) global risk and exposure: which considers the challenges of global financial integration especially within the background of the Global Financial Crisis 2007-2008; e.) African challenge: which considers the extent to which this analysis impacts the African economic and financial integration agenda; and f.) development challenge: which examines the extent to which global development issues impact the African solution (continental sovereignty) and the need for any solution for the continent to be roped into a broader global solution within which Africa can form an important part. Even though the thesis requests an optimistic undertone on the progress made so far, it unearths the African problem of multiple national sovereignty and multiple overlapping regional sovereignty constituted as the ‘spaghetti bowl’ dilemma. As such, the unique contribution to knowledge on financial integration in Africa can be echoed in these words: Africa‘s financial integration agenda has had little success in authenticating a systematic and dependable legal framework for monetary management. Efforts made have been incomplete, substandard, and not carefully followed through particularly reflected in the impuissant nature of the judicial enforcement mechanisms. Thus, the thesis argues that, any meaningful answer to the problems dogging the continent is inter alia deeply entrenched within a new form of cooperative monetary sovereignty. In other words, the thesis does not prescribe the creation of new laws; rather it advocates the effective enforcement of existing laws.

Domestic laws on the African continent have been considered inadequate to attract the investment needed for development and economic growth. A crucial catalyst in attracting investment on the continent is law reform. The formulation of legislation has twofold effects: firstly, it is perceived to mitigate the risks associated with doing business in Africa; secondly, it legally obligates African governments to comply with standards of protection accorded to international investors through the regulation of the business environment. The formulation of legislation is a key determinant of the quality of investment attracted to the continent. This Chapter assesses how the Organization for the Harmonization of African Business Law (OHADA) has contributed to regional integration and economic growth on the continent.

Until recently, doing business in developing countries, and in Sub-Saharan Africa in particular, was associated with high risk. Although each investment decision is associated with some risk, there are always obligations incumbent on host States in that regard. However, when domestic law is too obsolete to match the requirements of an evolving investment and commercial environment which it is supposed to regulate, and when its effects are unpredictable, one of the fundamental conditions for attracting investment goes missing. This eventually underscores the need for a legal reform. The phenomenon of 'globalisation' on the one hand, and the need for (developing) countries to integrate their economies into the global market, on the other hand, considerably accentuated the postulate of development through law.Against this background, some African countries, at the dawn of the 1990s, felt a need to 'modernise' their legal systems for the major part inherited from colonialism. In this vein, they entrusted a supranational organ, the OHADA, to perform that legal reform. This paper is an attempt to test the OHADA against the discourse of law as a development engine. Furthermore, this is an assessment of the extent to which OHADA, as a legal tool, could be useful in serving the purpose of regional integration and economic growth in Africa.

The promotion of international trade is seen as one of the important instruments to ensure development in developing nations and regions. The history of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the drafting of many regional and similar international trade agreements are evidence of this. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is no exception.1 It is therefore strange that many states that are members of the WTO and actively encourage the opening up of international borders to free trade do not include public procurement2 in such free trade arrangements. This is particularly evident in developing states. If the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), which is a plurilateral agreement, is considered it is clear that many states do not wish to open their internal markets to competition in the public procurement sphere. It is therefore not surprising that public procurement has been described as the last rampart of state protectionism (Ky, 2012). Public procurement is an important segment of trade in any country (Arrowsmith & Davies, 1998). It is estimated that public procurement represents between 10% and 15% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of developed countries and up to 25% of GDP in developing states (Wittig, 1999). Unfortunately, governments often expect private industry to open up national markets for international competition but do not lead the way. Except for the limited use of pooled procurement,3 no specific provision is at present made for the harmonisation and integration of public procurement in the SADC. In view of the proximity of the member states, the interdependency of their economies and the benefits that can be derived from opening up their boundaries to regional competition in public procurement, the possibility of harmonisation and deeper integration in this sphere needs to be given more attention. The importance of public procurement in international trade and regional integration is twofold: first, it forms a substantial part of trade with the related economic and developmental implications; secondly, it is used by governments as an instrument to address socio-economic issues. Public procurement spending is also important because of its potential influence on human rights, including aspects such as the alleviation of poverty, the achievement of acceptable labour standards and environmental goals, and similar issues (McCrudden, 1999). In this article the need to harmonise public procurement in the SADC in order to open up public procurement to regional competition, some of the obstacles preventing this, and possible solutions are discussed. Reference is made to international instruments such as the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the Model Law on Public Procurement and the GPA. In particular, the progress made in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) with regard to the harmonisation of public procurement, which was based on the Model Law, will be used to suggest possible solutions to the problem of harmonising public procurement in the SADC.

The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and other African regional economic communities (RECs) have as their ultimate objective the political and economic integration of the African continent. The SADC is home to a number of countries, all of them striving to improve their investment climate to attract foreign investors by reducing the costs of doing business in the region. One way of achieving this is by setting targets for and speeding up political and economic integration, improving interconnectivity and thereby enlarging the market size and enhancing its attractiveness. The SADC region still suffers from high levels of energy poverty through low access levels in all countries except South Africa and Mauritius. Numerous studies have shown that greater regional trading and cooperation on power development within the SADC could substantially reduce investment and operational costs as well as carbon emissions. The need for a regional power trading pool and regional cooperation grew out of the power utilities’ recognition of the vulnerability of individual countries if each continued to pursue a policy of self-sufficiency rather than out of a desire to minimise the social or financial costs of the region’s power. The power sector in southern Africa is undergoing tremendous reforms, more especially since the establishment of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) in August 1995. The SADC, however, faces serious challenges that include diminishing surplus generation capacity and the need to ensure that SADC citizens have equitable access to electricity at affordable prices. To meet these challenges, treaties and protocols have been adopted but are failing to deliver at the implementation stage. This article reviews the SADC energy-electricity regulatory framework in the context of economic and political integration and recommends the establishment of an independent regional regulatory authority to oversee the implementation of integrated holistic energy and air pollution control and prevention, and a common climate change policy. Such a regulator would be a highly resourced regional institution that will liaise with international institutions. This independent regional authority will serve as a catalyst for regional economic integration. It will also have a mandate to introduce and coordinate the establishment of an SADC regional emissions trading scheme that will contribute to managing the mitigation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and the implementation of global warming adaptation strategies in the region.

The role of African Union in the African integration project has remained a topical issue among scholars. Various views have been canvassed on how to strengthen African Union for a more effective regional integration in Africa. This paper examined the central role the African Diasporas can play in repositioning African Union for a sustainable regional integration in Africa. Its analysis of the situation was anchored on the mo-functionalist integration framework and applied essentially the secondary data gathering techniques. Among other recommendations, it suggested for the creation of a pan-African Diaspora Organization.

Depuis la décennie 1990, une nouvelle génération des Organisations internationales africaines (OIA) émerge sur l’échiquier africain en s’inspirant, pour l’essentiel de son articulation normative et institutionnelle, du modèle européen d’intégration, notamment dans sa dimension communautaire tout en y apportant des spécificités africaines. Dès lors, le droit communautaire pose ses racines dans certaines OIA suscitant l’intérêt sans cesse nourri de la doctrine sur cette nouvelle matière. Mais existe-t-il vraiment un droit communautaire africain dont la doctrine s’efforce de présenter les grandes lignes, du moins de manière thématique ? La présente étude constitue une contribution à la problématique posée en envisageant de cerner la nature ainsi que les caractéristiques de ce droit qui se développe, principalement, en Afrique centrale et occidentale. Since the 1990s, a new generation of African International Organizations (AIO) emerges on the African continent, inspired, for most of its normative and institutional articulation, by the European model of integration, including its Community law while by bringing African specificities. Thus Community law is rooted in some AIO and the interest by the doctrine on this new branch is still constant. But is there really an African Community law that the doctrine seeks to systematize, at least thematically? This paper is a contribution to the problem posed by considering the nature and characteristics of this law developed mainly in Central and West Africa.

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University LondonThis study is an attempt at determining the normative legitimacy of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). At its core, it scrutinizes the current mandate of the organization following the layering of economic integration objectives with human rights protection, sustenance of democracy, and the rule of law. The study discusses the elements of legitimacy across disciplines mainly, international law, international relations and political science. Legitimacy is eventually split along two divides, the normative and descriptive/sociological aspects. The study traces the normative content (shared/common values) underlying integration in Africa, concluding that integration has been born on new ideals such as human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Expectedly, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as building blocks of the prospective African Economic Community (AEC) under the African Union (AU) regime are mandated to play a vital role in moving the continent forward upon these values. The inquiry is extended to the institutions of ECOWAS to determine their capacity to effectively implement the new mandate of the organization and operate supranationally. In the process, key legal and institutional shortcomings are discussed, particularly in relation to national institutions. It is argued that while human rights protection enhances the normative legitimacy of ECOWAS, it must not be pursued in isolation. Economic integration and protection of citizens’ rights are co-terminus and mutually reinforcing. Hence, community institutions must reflect this link if they are to be effective. The study concludes on the note that, while ECOWAS possesses layers of legitimacy, and have carried out legitimation steps, it cannot be considered a legitimate organization if Member States continue to be non-compliant with community objectives and if key legal questions remain unaddressed. It is submitted that ECOWAS is merely undergoing legitimation, whether it can eventually be considered a legitimate organization is dependent on addressing the identified challenges

Pretende–se com esta tese intítulada “ Direito Comunitário material e Integração Sub–Regional: Contributo para o Estudo das Mutações no Processo da Integração Económica e Monetária da África Ocidental” pôr em evidência as mutações ocorridas na actual zona franco, no período colonial e pós colonial dos países africanos e as reformas das principais instituições comunitárias nela verificadas.Impõe–se uma nova abordagem da realidade contemporânea, no quadro das profundas mudanças ocorridas, a reclamar novos instrumentos de análise e de integração regional.Neste sentido, o Tratado da União Monetária Oeste Africana (UMOA) proclamou expressamente a vontade que animava os Estados–membros de prosseguirem na via da integração regional e de transformarem o conjunto das relações entre os si numa União Económica e Monetária.Com o propósito de somar à moeda única a harmonização legislativa, a abertura e a unificação dos mercados, a adopção de politicas económicas convergentes, propõe–se a União Económica e Monetária da África Ocidental (UEMOA) levar a cabo a habitual sequência da integração regional.Analisamos profundamente as políticas comunitárias, distinguindo primeiro políticas visando mais directamente a livre circulação das mercadorias, das pessoas, dos serviços e dos capitais no âmbito da UEMOA e da CEDEAO.A presente tese de doutoramento visa retratar o regime monetário regional que historicamente está ligado ao espaço colonial francês e depois se integrou progressivamente no sistema monetário internacional.Enfatizamos os principais instrumentos de política monetária regional, bem como o quadro institucional da União.Traçamos as premissas para uma teoria geral da integração dos Estados–membros da zona franco no contexto duma integração monetária e do novo multilateralismo comercial.Num ambiente cada vez mais concorrencial e difícil tornam-se prementes uma firme e necessária cooperação e integração regionais.No contexto da União Africana e da Nova Parceira para o Desenvolvimento do Continente Africano (NEPAD), evocamos as condições prévias do desenvolvimento com relação ao combate à pobreza. A nova Parceria Económica entre os países africanos e a União Europeia, consubstanciada no reforço do comércio internacional, permitindo robustecer as económicas africanas frágeis, que evidenciam falta de competitividade e de complementaridade, e uma um melhor inserção na económia regional e mundial.Nesta ordem de ideias, debruçamo-nos sobre as vantagens comparativas dos países da zona franco face às regras da Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC).Partindo do entendimento de que o comércio internacional é necessário e que as trocas comerciais venham mesmo a ser inevitáveis, o que se propõe é uma nova discussão, inquirindo–se se o sistema multilateral de comércio pode fomentar e englobar um projecto de desenvolvimento.