As a result of the extensive investment in infrastructure, energy, offshore and mining projects in the region, members of Keating Chambers have vast experience in projects across North, South, East, Central and West Africa. Members are instructed as counsel in large and complex disputes in the region, most recently involving road projects, power stations and offshore oil and gas.
Members have experience in Anglophone, Lusophone, Francophone and North African jurisdictions. They are familiar with the individual characteristics of many African countries and jurisdictions including civil law, common law and Roman-Dutch systems.
Members are regularly instructed in arbitrations, adjudications and dispute resolution boards in the region, bringing together their experience in the technical aspects of the disputes (such as design and construction related issues) and their expertise with regulatory matters and contractual interpretation.
Many senior members of Keating Chambers have acted as arbitrator and dispute board members in major cases in Africa, and are familiar with the applicable legal, cultural and commercial considerations.
A number of members maintain significant contacts in their home countries in Africa, including Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Languages spoken include Yoruba and Swahili.
Recent Case Examples
- Acting for a dredging contractor in a FIDIC Blue Book Dispute Adjudication Board against a Kenyan Government entity in respect of a claim arising from damage to an undersea cable during the course of the works.
- Acting for a Chinese heavy engineering company in respect of the contract for the development of a new container port in Sierra Leone.
- Acting for a Nigerian oil and gas services company concerning a dispute with a UK oil and gas services company regarding an agreement for the provision of services in Nigeria.
- Acting on behalf of the Government of Malawi in an ICC arbitration.
- Acting for a main contractor in a number of major arbitral disputes with its employer and subcontractors connected with a coal fired power station in South Africa.
- Acting for contractor in respect of arbitration claims for work done at mineral sands extraction process plant and associated sub-station works in Mozambique.
- Successfully resisting application for interim relief to restrain demands under performance bonds and advance-payment guarantees on construction projects in North Africa.
- Advising the claimant in an arbitration, between a UK Contractor and the State, concerning a World Bank funded road project in West Africa.
- Sole counsel acting for supplier of equipment for the construction of a new port in Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo.
- ICC arbitration concerning a dispute surrounding the design and construction of a 127km section of road in Africa based on a FIDIC Yellow Book with delay, disruption and technical issues.
- Acting as counsel for the West African Gas Pipeline Company in a claim in the Commercial Court.
- Acting as Arbitrator in an ICC arbitration relating to a dispute in a road construction project in Ethiopia.
- Acting as the President of a Dispute Board in respect of a major road project in Central Africa.
- Acting as an ICC appointed sole arbitrator in a dispute concerning a solar power plant in East Africa.
- Acting as an arbitrator in an LCIA arbitration concerning an agreement between a Mauritian company and a Nigerian indigenous oil company.