By James Samba, Freetown.
The first-ever Commercial Law Summit in Sierra Leone was held 14 March 2017 at the Radisson Blu Mammy Yoko hotel in Freetown.
The summit was held in a bid to map out commercial law reforms to promote business growth and the country’s ongoing economic development.
The event which was organized by Herbert Smith Freehills, Standard Chartered Bank, the UK Sierra Leone Pro Bono Network and the UK and Sierra Leonean governments aims to bring together key decision makers to address gaps in commercial law and in the justice system in Sierra Leone, in order to assist the country with its economic growth and recovery from the effects of the Ebola crisis.
The Master of Ceremonies, Oluniyi Robbin-Coker, who doubles as Chairman of the Sierra Leone Investment & Export Promotion Agency and Sector Coordinator for Trade at the President Delivery Team said that the summit was to create a platform where they could engage around access to justice generally but more specifically access to justice from a commercial point of view. He said the commercial courts help to boost the country’s economy by bringing income generation and job creation, putting people to work thereby increasing the productivity of the nation.
In his Keynote address, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara said that addressing the challenges in commercial law and justice will thereby increase the ease of doing business in Sierra Leone, which was a government priority. He said a robust legal system, underpinned by the rule of law, goes hand in hand with economic prosperity.
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