Legal Services and Activities in West Africa 2024

West Africa has about 90,000 lawyers, of which about 80,000 are in Nigeria. The region’s share of the number of lawyers employed by the continent’s 100 largest law firms has declined. Challenges in the region include political instability, lack of independence of the judiciary, corruption, attacks on lawyers and court backlogs. The decision in January 2024 by Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to leave the Economic Community of West African States has prevented the free movement of lawyers providing services to clients.

Opportunities

• Alternative dispute resolution and use of arbitrators
• Lawyers from the West African Economic and Monetary Union can work and enjoy free movement in the bloc
• Legal training, including assistance to the judiciary to bolster its independence
• Legaltech solutions
• Supporting women lawyers
• The implementation of the AfCFTA is expected drive the growth of law firms

Challenges

• A large number of unregistered or fake lawyers
• Clustering of lawyers in the main urban areas, which leaves more rural areas underserved
• Competition from alternative legal services providers
• Corruption in the judiciary and law firms is a serious concern
• Court backlogs, a lack of infrastructure and high legal fees act as barriers in legal services
• Foreign lawyers and foreign law firms presence in the region is limited by legal requirements
• Gender parity is a growing concern. High cost of technology. Nigeria and Ghana are experiencing economic challenges
• Nigeria’s grey-listing in 2023. Political instability, the poor rule of law and insecurity in the region
• Retaining employees
• The emigration of lawyers
• The quality of legal training is questionable
• The withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger has affected lawyers’ ability to operate the West African Economic and Monetary Union.

Trends

• A growing number of judiciaries using e-courts and electronic case management
• Lawyers are increasingly working for foreign law firms or businesses
• The growing importance of venture capital and startups in the region could drive legal services offered to these companies
• The use of alternative dispute resolution is growing as an option to tackle court backlogs, and due to growth in demand for investor-state dispute settlement

Outlook

It is not clear whether the decline in West Africa’s share of the number of lawyers in Africa’s largest law firms will continue. Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area may drive the growth of law firms as countries increase trade with one another, which is likely to drive demand for legal services. However, the region faces a number of challenges including political instability. The use of alternative dispute resolution is growing to tackle court backlogs, and due to growth in demand for investor-state dispute settlement.

Report Coverage

This report on legal services and activities in West Africa includes information on the region, number of lawyers and major firms, and various issues and factors affecting legal services such as political stability, independence of the judiciary, rule of law, corruption, backlogs, regulation, training and skills development. Other areas covered include competition, the role and presence of foreign law firms, regional integration, and drivers of the industry such as mergers, acquisitions, private equity, alternative dispute resolution and legaltech.

There are profiles of 41 companies including large foreign firms operating in the region such as DLA Piper and Dentons, South African firms with a presence including ENSafrica and Bowmans, and West African firms such as Templars, AELEX and Asafo and Co.