By Leonard Masauli

Lilongwe, February 27, Mana: Malawi’s Attorney General, Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda SC, has called for stronger regulations and legislative reforms to address key challenges in international arbitration.

Nyirenda said this during his remarks at the ongoing Lusaka Arbitration Week taking place in Zambia.

In the meeting which started on Monday, Nyirenda highlighted concerns about investors frequently demanding that disputes be resolved outside the host country or even Africa, arguing that local arbitration would affect the bankability of investments.

He said the investors, bulldoze host countries into submitting to arbitration taking place in Western cities.

Nyirenda challenged this notion, emphasizing the need to build trust in African arbitration institutions to resolve disputes fairly and effectively.

Reflecting on the Nigeria v Process & Industrial Developments Limited case where an arbitration award was overturned due to fraud and public policy issues, Nyirenda raised serious concerns about the conduct of legal representatives.

“In that case, the lawyers for both the claimant and the Nigerian government were involved in what I could term ‘match-fixing’, as they mounted a very weak defence.

“it feels like ‘match-fixing.’ shouldn’t there be state regulation to ensure that legal teams defend public interests more rigorously and ensure that there is no match fixing thereby preventing fraud, corruption and money laundering and ensuring that arbitral institutions are not used to perpetrate fraud and money laundering,” he asked.

The Attorney General also pointed to legislative gaps in Malawi’s Public-Private Partnership Act, which mandates that disputes be governed by Malawian law but does not require arbitration to occur within Malawi or Africa.

Another critical issue raised was “double-hatting”, where lawyers act as arbitrators in some cases while serving as legal representatives in others, creating potential conflicts of interest.

Nyirenda emphasized the need for regulation to preserve ethical standards and impartiality in arbitration proceedings.

He further expressed concern over the poor quality and weak reasoning of some arbitration awards, which in some instances force courts to intervene and set aside decisions.

He called for higher standards and accountability in award writing to uphold the credibility of the arbitration process.

Nyirenda congratulated Zambia’s Solicitor General and Attorney General for their success in the recent energy dispute case of ANTRA Energy v ZESCO and the Government of the Republic of Zambia, where the legal team successfully defended a claim exceeding $500 million.