Objectives

Mark your calendar for the entire week as the 9th ICC Africa Conference on International Arbitration and an ICC Institute of World Business Law Advanced Training on Amicable Settlement of Disputes in International Arbitration will be taking place from 28-30 May 2025.

Don't miss the ICC YAAF Africa Chapter Conference on 30 May. It will be a great opportunity to share experiences and discuss emerging disputes in Africa with a focus on arbitration in the extractives and sports sectors and enrich your global network! The conference will be divided into the following two panels: 

• Panel I - Dispute Resolution in Africa’s Extractive Sector: Navigating Environmental Risk and Resource Security Amid Rising Global Demand
  
  European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s recent statement signals a major shift in European defence policy, with direct implications for global demand for critical minerals. For African nations, this shift presents both opportunities and challenges: the potential for economic growth on one hand, and the need to uphold sustainable resource governance and robust regulatory frameworks on the other. As European defence spending is projected to rise, so too will demand for Africa’s strategic resources, heightening the likelihood of disputes and arbitration.
  
  This panel will explore how commercial disputes in Africa’s extractive sector are being shaped by a complex interplay of contractual risks, environmental obligations, and geopolitical pressures. It will examine how stakeholders are navigating stabilisation clauses, force majeure, and change-in-law provisions amid tightening environmental and climate-related regulations.
  
  Particular attention will be given to disputes arising from local content obligations, joint venture and offtake agreements, as well as price volatility and supply chain disruptions that threaten project delivery and commercial stability. The discussion will also delve into regulatory compliance challenges—especially those linked to ESG standards and environmental impact assessments—and the ongoing tension between investor protections and state-driven efforts to enhance resource sovereignty and security.
  
  The panel will further consider how community rights, including the principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and the notion of a social license to operate, are increasingly influencing dispute dynamics. Lastly, it will assess how climate change, the global push for energy transition, and just transition frameworks are generating new legal risks and responsibilities that are transforming dispute resolution across Africa’s resource-rich landscapes.
   
• Panel II : Arbitrating Africa’s Sports Disputes: Challenges, opportunities and the road ahead
  
  This panel will delve into the unique challenges and opportunities associated with resolving sports disputes in Africa through arbitration. It will cover the current landscape of sports arbitration, highlight key issues such as contract disputes, doping cases, and governance conflicts, and discuss the potential for growth and improvement in this field. The panel will also explore the future of sports arbitration in Africa, considering how it can be strengthened to better serve athletes, organizations, and stakeholders.

Who should attend?

Participants will have the opportunity to network and strengthen links within the young arbitration and ADR community and to interact with peers from all over the world.

Open to young dispute resolution practitioners aged 40 and under, ICC YAAF provides a range of opportunities for individuals to gain knowledge, develop skills, build networks and garner a better understanding of ICC's Dispute Resolution Services.