Previous ART Events

First Africa Round Table
30th September 2010
Abuja, Nigeria

The first INSOL Africa Round Table on insolvency reform took place on September 30 in Abuja, Nigeria. This one-day event was jointly organised by INSOL International and the World Bank Group, with support from International Monetary Fund, bringing together insolvency experts from a number of African countries (Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia). In addition, the Senior Advisor on insolvency reform in the 17 West African OHADA countries was also present.

Institutions and organisations involved in the region welcomed and extended their support and cooperation to this important INSOL initiative. It was agreed that a coordinated regional approach would be an efficient and effective way of optimising the use of the knowledge, experience and resources available with the participating global institutions and bodies and others which can contribute to this initiative. The work of the Africa Round Table could lead to regional and country level projects which could be taken up jointly or individually by the supporting institutions.

It was noted that in many countries legislative changes are required to update the law and introduce restructuring mechanisms to help rescue financially viable businesses. Institutional reforms are another area in need of priority attention. Improvement in infrastructure, in particular that of the court systems is a vital area. Simultaneously, out of court restructuring regimes can be developed to reduce the burden on the courts and promote flexible responses. There is an urgent need to ensure that the quality of practitioners and the judiciary is in line with internationally accepted standards. Capacity building of judges and practitioners through training can help in improvement of their skills and capacity.

Second Africa Round Table
Cape Town, South Africa
16th - 17th September 2011

In September 2011, the second INSOL Africa Round Table was held in Cape Town, South Africa. Some 50 delegates took part representing 16 African countries plus a delegation from the OHADA countries. Judges, practitioners, regulators and policy-makers attended.

"Preserving value in distressed businesses" was the central theme. As echoed by most of the attendees, this is a concern of massive importance in the African context, more so (said some of the participants) than in the mature markets. The theme was fleshed out and debated in various forms – out of court restructurings, formal workouts, and the roles of the judiciary, regulators and practitioners in developing a formula to achieve the elusive value preservation. Hugely different perspectives were reported and it was apparent that the divergences on the African continent were great. But by far the majority of the jurisdictions represented reported that capacity building for the Courts and regulation of practitioners was a uniform problem.

Third Africa Round Table
Nairobi, Kenya
7th - 8th September 2012

The Third Africa Round Table was held in Nairobi, Kenya with the theme "Insolvency Best Practices: A Roadmap for Reform in Africa". The objective of this conference was for policy makers, regulators and private practitioners to focus on specific current challenges that are hindering the development of insolvency regimes in Africa; and to develop a toolkit that will have maximum impact in strengthening these regimes. In effectively leveraging the full range of best practice standards, innovative technologies and flexible tools, it is hoped that viable assets will continue to retain their productive value in the economy, stakeholder returns will increase whilst entrepreneurship and job creation will be stimulated.

Fourth Africa Round Table
11th & 12th October 2013
Radisson Blu Hotel
Lusaka Zambia

The theme this year was "Building Africa’s Credit Environment for Growth: How insolvency regimes can improve the cost and availability of credit". Its focus was on the intersection of creditor rights and an improved restructuring and insolvency regime. It drew on commercial banks’ experiences to understand where they see potential for improvement that can help mitigate creditor risk and ultimately encourage cheaper and more extensive bank lending in the Africa region, lending that can be used to start new businesses and generate wealth in the economy.

Fifth Africa Round Table
17th - 18th October 2014
Venue: Kampala, Uganda

Although it has been over five years since the global financial crisis, many countries are continuing to experience poor economic growth and high levels of business distress. The 2014 Africa Round Table will explore how insolvency reform can contribute to economic development by saving valuable business and thereby preserving jobs, encouraging entrepreneurship through more efficient liquidation proceedings and promoting foreign investment through procedural coordination with other jurisdictions. The theme is "Jobs in Africa: how insolvency regimes impact economic growth".

Sixth Africa Round Table
12th - 13th October 2015
Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel
Cape Town, South Africa

The 2015 Africa Roundtable was held in Cape Town, South Africa on Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th October 2015. The theme this year was “Restoring Financial Sector Stability: the role of insolvency regimes”.

Recent systemic crises have underlined how widespread, sever weaknesses in corporate finance and governance, combined with poor macroeconomic policies, can have serious consequences for the economic and social fabric of a country. This year's ART explored the role that insolvency regimes play in contributing to financial sector stability and the protection of creditor rights.

Seventh Africa Round Table
Freedom to fail? – Insolvency for micro, small and medium enterprises
6th-7th October 2016
Labadi Beach Hotel
Accra, Ghana

Eighth Africa Round Table
Plugging the implementation gap
9th - 10th November 2017
Sugar Beach Resort, Mauritius

Ninth Africa Round Table
Multinational insolvencies in an African context
25 – 26 October 2018
Serena Polana Hotel, Maputo, Mozambique