TDB Group, through the TDB Academy, in collaboration with the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF), hosted the first edition of “The African Attorneys General Roundtable Meeting , on 4-5 November 2024 at TDB Tower in Nairobi, Kenya.
The inaugural event brought together Attorneys General (AG) or their representatives from 24 countries across the Anglophone and Lusophone regional membership of TDB Group and ALSF.
Offices of Attorneys General drive the definition of policy, coordination and oversight with regard to various legal sector institutions and relevant ministries, and therefore possess a broader cross-cutting mandate to oversee the legal risks across various institutions in their respective countries. As such, they play a crucial role in the jurisdictions they serve, in bringing to fruition impactful projects that tackle sustainable development challenges such as infrastructure development, poverty alleviation, climate change, and sovereign debt management, amongst others.
The Roundtable provided participants with an opportunity to discuss the current responsibilities and functions of the Office of the Attorney General and identify challenges, concerns, capacity building gaps, and action points to address these. The Roundtable also explored opportunities for common approaches to legal risk management, and how the role of the Office of the Attorney General may evolve in the future, in its capacity as the focal point for sovereign legal risk management. In this context, topics such as risk analysis and its impact on decision-making in the management of key development areas, negotiation techniques and capacity building strategies were discussed, and the groundwork was laid for the creation of an AG network.
David Bamlamgo TDB Group Vice President, Deputy Managing Director and General Counsel said,
“As promoters of the rule of law and defenders of the public interest, Offices of Attorneys General require the right resources, tools and appropriate skills to understand, negotiate, and execute the most complex commercial transactions and manage the legal risks faced by the governments they serve. Through our TDB Academy, and in close partnership with key institutions like ALSF, we are committed to delivering transformative capacity development programmes that empower talent within our Member States, ensuring they are prepared to tackle current challenges and capitalize on future opportunities.”
Olivier Pognon, ALSF Chief Executive Officer and Director said,
“At the ALSF, we are honoured to co- host the inaugural African Attorneys General Roundtable Meeting in partnership with TDB. This event underscores our shared commitment to empowering the continent’s Attorneys General with enhanced legal expertise to tackle the complexities of sovereign transactions, project negotiations, and legal risk management. With the establishment of a pan-African network, we aim to foster an ongoing platform for collaboration, peer learning, and capacity development that will ultimately strengthen governance frameworks and drive sustainable development across Africa.”
TDB Group and ALSF have been collaborating since 2021 on the development and delivery of capacity building training programmes for public sector lawyers in Africa. This is the third training organised by the institutions together. The first two were focused on sovereign debt and infrastructure, and power purchase agreements and legal frameworks for the energy sector.
