Negotiating an avalanche of legislation from dozens of African countries is a major headache for in-house teams. But, as the Legal Week Corporate Counsel Forum Africa heard, a 'one size fits all' approach could be disastrous. John Malpas reports

Running an effective in-house legal team across the vast continent of Africa must be a daunting prospect.

Take GE. Its 12-strong sub-Saharan African team is based across four countries. But the multinational's operations span 35 sovereign states, and, thanks to Africa's status as one of the world's most economically vibrant regions, that list is likely to grow in the next year.

Given that each of the region's 48 countries has its own set of laws and way of doing business and that accurate information about legislation is often hard to come by, Bruce Campbell, general counsel at GE Africa, has his hands full.

At Legal Week's Corporate Counsel Forum Africa, which was held in Johannesburg last October, Campbell led a debate on how to provide the most effective in-house legal support when operating across the world's second largest continent after Asia.

The thrust of his argument at the conference was that perceptions about doing business in Africa are outdated given the fast pace of economic growth and political development in the region, and that international companies need to wise up to this. He went on to urge the delegation to be sensitive to the continent's diversity and to resist the temptation to adopt a 'one size fits all' approach to doing business there.

His comments struck a chord with the conference delegation, some of whom had direct experience of the high-handed approach international lawyers can adopt when dealing with African lawyers.

It is an attitude that senior Ghanaian in-house lawyer Carla Olympio, who was in the audience, has come across on several occasions. "A lot of lawyers in the firm where I used to work are highly educated and extremely well-travelled," says Olympio, who is general counsel and corporate services manager at drilling contractor Drillmasters Africa. "However, some international lawyers from more 'developed' economies can be very patronising.  This is a myopic and counter-productive attitude – you can end up offending the very business people and officials who you need on your side to succeed in a new and unfamiliar environment.africa-forum-web

"Coming in and waving the US's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act like it should have direct application in a different jurisdiction does not always go down well. Asking how to ensure it is complied with in order to arrive at a mutually beneficial business arrangement works better."

Olympio draws from her own experience to underline the importance of treating every African country differently and being alive to the fact that cultural mores can change radically from country to country, even if they are neighbours. "This might be a bit of a generalisation, but in my experience Nigerians, for example, tend to be more forthright, and are perhaps more likely to let you know upfront that they are offended," she says. 

"Ghanaian professionals and business people on the other hand may not necessarily display their feelings when they have taken offence. This can be damaging to your interests because the person causing offence might struggle to gain traction, get follow-up meetings or even information they need, without knowing why."

'The perfect storm'

Given the pace of legislative change in Ghana, losing the trust of local contacts could be costly. "If there was a textbook on the legal risks of doing business in Africa, it would probably talk a lot about corruption, political instability, political interference and credit default," says Campbell. "Being on the ground, you realise the situation is much more nuanced."

Campbell maintains that while corruption and instability remain issues to varying degrees in several countries, Africa's economic growth is fuelling a very different challenge sparked by an avalanche of legislation.

Laws covering data privacy, competition, consumer protection, the environment and corruption are being passed across sub-Saharan Africa while the legal systems underpinning this legislation are developing at different rates. "Given the number of countries you are dealing with, the fact that there is limited cooperation between them on legal issues, and the difficulty in obtaining up-to-date information about changes in the law, this could be described as a perfect storm for an Africa-wide legal team," says Campbell. 

GE's legal team, which is made up of a dozen lawyers and compliance professionals, is spread across offices in four of the countries where GE is most firmly established – South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Angola.bruce-campbell-web

The lawyers responsible for these countries are expected to be experts in their legal systems. In addition, lawyers who specialise in important disciplines like employment and project finance are required to develop an expertise across a defined region.

But the team can only spread itself so far, and forging close relationships with law firms forms a crucial part of GE's strategy, with the multinational tending to bypass international law firms and strike up close relationships with local practices.

Respecting different cultures

Over and above the nuts and bolts of sourcing information and building relationships, there is a need for GE's lawyers to be sensitive to local cultures. "We encourage our lawyers to try and be humble when they are dealing with people," says Campbell. "If you are going to do business in a country then a good corporate citizen has to respect and understand its people and customs. All countries – large or small – have their specific ways of doing things and we must treat them all with professionalism and respect. 

"There is a myth that multinationals are all-powerful, but, if we want to do business in African countries, then we are subject to their laws and the decisions of their institutions. We are an integral part of the African business community, and we have to behave accordingly while maintaining the highest standards of integrity."

One in-house lawyer with experience of rolling out businesses across several African countries is Johann Koen, legal counsel at Barclays' Africa group and winner of Legal Counsel of the Year at last year's inaugural African Legal Awards.

Koen has been handling the legal aspects of the expansion of Barclays' bancassurance business from its base in South Africa. So far he has overseen the launch of insurance businesses in Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique, and he has now turned his attention to East Africa.

"It is very exciting because every country is different," he says. "From the legal perspective the challenge is to gather information about the legislation. This is a big challenge. The information is not always readily available on the internet or from other sources. When such information is available, it is sometimes out of date.

"My priority is to set up networks with law firms, regulators and industry bodies. This process can take many months."

An essential part of Koen's blueprint is to contact national insurance industry bodies and offer to set up legal sub-committees. On each occasion the approach has been met with a positive response.

Further factors that make operating across Africa problematic are the different languages and legal systems that have been left behind as an enduring legacy of the colonial era. Launching in Mozambique presented a particular  challenge for Koen. 

"All the legislation and regulations are in Portuguese, and although translations of these documents exist in English there is no guarantee that they are precise. Sourcing good translators is essential and can be expensive," he says.

Although it did not necessarily help him interpret the local legislation, Koen made the effort to learn basic Portuguese. "People respond positively if you can show you have made the effort to learn the language and can hold even a basic conversation," he says.

"I'm interested in other countries and this definitely helps. The people I have dealt with are invariably very welcoming and receptive. They are keen to learn from us, just as we want to learn from them."

Going that extra mile, it seems, is at least part of the solution to becoming a successful lawyer in Africa.