The African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) has approved and adopted a new medium-term strategy which aims to focus on critical issues that matter to African communities, governments and the entire continent.
Among other things, the Medium-Term Strategy (2018-2022) will strengthen the Facility to achieve greater results.
Experience has shown that strong legal capacities play a critical role in producing economic success in the African region.
The new year-year Strategy catalogues the lessons learned since the 2013 adoption of the ALSF's previous strategy and describes the evolving context of the organization's work, and identifies the potential challenges this new context entails.
As a reflection of the ALSF's effective work, the demand for creditor litigation services in the African region has declined in the past decade. However, the risks posed by vulture funds persist. As these and other issues gain greater prominence, the ALSF must be prepared to meet them.
"As we consider the implementation of the second Medium-Term Strategy (MTS), we have had occasion to ponder the complexities of economic development in Africa, and how our work must meaningfully contribute towards the rolling back of the frontiers of poverty and inequality in our midst," explained Seward Cooper, Chairman of the ALSF's Management Board.
Keeping in mind the Facility's founding mission and guiding principles, the Strategy proposes a broadening of the ALSF's advisory services, while simultaneously leveraging data and information, reducing project development times by crafting new model documentation and toolkits, and improving contract implementation.
By making substantive proposals based on the Facility's three key results areas ( fair commercial negotiations for African governments; enhanced legal capacities in Africa; and improved litigation case outcomes), the new Strategy points the way forward for the African Legal Support Facility -a path toward stronger legal capacities for the continent.
Stephen Karangizi, Director of the ALSF, explained: "ALSF's past performance, combined with the strategies and tactics that will be implemented in the second MTS period gives confidence that the Facility will continue to make the kind of difference that truly matters to communities, governments and the continent as a whole."
Established in 2008, the ALSF is an international public institution, hosted by the African Development Bank Group. Its mandate is to support African states by providing legal advisory services, launching capacity building events, and developing unique knowledge management tools.
