On 21 December 2023, Mr Justice Waksman handed down his judgment in the second trial of the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) saga. The judgment, along with its earlier companions, is extraordinary in many ways...more
Last year was a challenging one for M&A in Africa, with both deal value and volume dropping to their lowest figures on record. Yet 2021 has shown signs of a resurgence, with H1’s total of 87 deals marking a 15% increase...more
African loan and bond issuance fell by just under 10% in the first half of 2021, year-on-year, with lenders still jittery after Zambia missed a bond repayment in November 2020 to become the first African sovereign to default...more
Last month, the UK Supreme Court overturned the judgment of the Court of Appeal and allowed a claim for damages from claimants in the Niger Delta to proceed against Royal Dutch Shell plc and its local subsidiary Shell...more
The UK Supreme Court has issued the latest in a series of landmark decisions on parent company liability under English law for claims alleging environmental damage and human rights abuses. In a unanimous reversal of the...more
The world will get half its power from wind, solar by 2050 - Nearly half the world’s electricity will come from renewable energy by 2050 as costs of wind, solar and battery storage continue to plummet. That titanic...more
Drought leaves key African hydro dam less than a third full - A regional drought has reduced water levels at Kariba Dam, the main source of power for Zambia and Zimbabwe, to less than a third of its capacity. The dam is...more
UK class actions revived? The Court of Appeal breathes life into Merricks' £14 billion claim against MasterCard - The Court of Appeal has allowed Walter Merricks' appeal of the Competition Appeal Tribunal's (the "CAT")...more
The case of Vedanta Resources plc and Konkola Copper Mines plc v Lungowe and others has received a lot of attention in recent years. In essence, 1,826 Zambian citizens are suing Konkola Copper Mines plc (a public company...more
Could private equity funds be liable for human rights breaches by a portfolio company? A recent decision by the UK Supreme Court increases the likelihood of this outcome. This blog looks at the judgment in Vedanta Resources...more
Zambia sets sights on yet more solar as another 34 MW is connected to grid - The 34 MW Ngonye solar photovoltaic plant, in Zambia, has been connected to the country’s grid and has started operations....more
On 10 April 2019, the Supreme Court in Vedanta Resources Plc v Lungowe, determined that a UK-domiciled parent company may owe a duty of care to third parties affected by operations of its foreign subsidiary....more
Globeleq, Aurora Power Solutions to build PV projects in Zambia - Independent power producer Globeleq and renewable energy company Sola Group’s Aurora Power Solutions have been awarded two 20 MW solar photovoltaic (PV)...more
International arbitration can benefit the parties to a range of mining disputes - Mining is one of Africa's flagship industries and a growth engine for many of the continent's countries, such as Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, the...more
SA’s energy vision for 2030: Jeff Radebe releases the details in long-awaited IRP - The long-awaited Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) envisages the energy mix in 2030 will consist of almost half coal power, with gas and wind...more
Development agendas to curb power woes - Sub-Saharan Africa is burdened with a complex and persistent electricity gap that is difficult to bridge in the medium to long-term owing to population growth, says...more
Conventionally, a "corporate veil" and the doctrine of "forum non-conveniens" have isolated UK businesses from human rights related claims arising out of the operations of their foreign subsidiaries. ...more