Addis Ababa — Seventeen African law students, including 9 women and 8 men, have qualified for the final oral round of the 15th European Law Students' Association (ELSA) Moot Court Competition on World Trade Organization (WTO) law, which will be held at the WTO headquarters in Geneva from 6 to 11 June 2016.

The ELSA Moot Court Competition is an academic simulation of judicial procedures by law students, helping to foster their awareness and experience in international trade negotiations. It is also a forum for students to acquire practical experience on how to prepare and present legal arguments and how to debate current legal and social issues.

The African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) sponsored the competing teams from Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda in the fourth African Regional Round of the ELSA Moot Court Competition from 9 to 13 April 2017, which was hosted by Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa.

ATPC has been supporting the competition since 2016 as part of its commitment and efforts in capacity-building. Ultimately, the initiative seeks to contribute to legal education, foster mutual understanding and promote social responsibility of law students and young lawyers in Africa.

Mr. Melaku Desta, Principal Adviser in the Capacity Development Division of ECA who participated in adjudicating the competition in Grahamstown said, "Through ECA's support, African universities have an opportunity to grow in the knowledge of international trade law and WTO dispute settlement procedures; this should enhance capacity in Africa in the long term".

This year's winning teams are from Kenya (School of Law of Kenya; Strathmore University and Kabarak University) and from South Africa:- University of the Witwatersrand. They will compete against the finalists from the other regional rounds, i.e. the All-America, Asia-Pacific, and European regional rounds in Geneva.