WINDHOEK - Namibia is in the process of reforming her insolvency legal framework in an effort to ensure that the liquidation and dissolution of insolvent entities will be dealt with speedily and efficiently, Minister of Justice Sacky Shanghala has said.
Shanghala said this on Monday while speaking at the Second International Conference on Justice, held in Morocco’s central city of Marrakech.
The two-day conference officiated by King Mohammed VI of Morocco on Monday saw the presence of more than 800 lawmakers from nearly 70 countries.
“A legal framework providing fair and just accommodations for creditors and debtors when economies fail or businesses go bust is important, and currently most legal frameworks on the continent have not provided recovery opportunities through insolvency legislation,” Shanghala said.
The new legislation, Shanghala said will also be inclusive of international best practices especially in the area of cross-border insolvency, which is relevant in jurisdictions like that of Namibia where most multi-state businesses operate and are a large part of the economy.
“This new legislation will be tabled in Parliament during early 2020,” he told participants.
In the meantime, he said Namibia will be hosting the INSOL/World Bank African Roundtable on Insolvency during 21-22 November 2019, and urged fellow lawmakers to visit the INSOL website and sign up to attend and register.
Also, he said Namibia has recently deposited its ratification instrument for accession to the Hague Conference and will continue to explore options for accession to instruments that will enable the country to enhance its business operations and relations.
He said Cabinet has also approved the country signature and ratification of the recently launched Singapore Convention on Mediation.
According to Shanghala, this will further enhance Namibia’s mediation processes and Namibia look forward to become a member to that “prestigious instrument”.
Shanghala says according to a World Bank Group Flagship report of 2019, the Sub-Saharan Africa has been the region with the highest number of reforms each year since 2012.
This year, he said Doing Business captured a record 107 reforms across 40 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the region’s private sector is feeling the impact of these improvements.
“The average time and cost to register a business, for example, has declined from 59 days and 192 percent of income per capita in 2006 to 23 days and 40 percent of income per capita today,” he said.