Corporate Debt Restructuring and the Global Harmonisation Process: Emerging Trends in Africa

This research critically evaluates changes in restructuring and insolvency practices in Africa, in the light of the trend towards global convergence in the field of insolvency. Notwithstanding the claim that the convergence of insolvency norms has gone relatively well among global powers, some questions are yet to be fully settled- which economies matter in harmonisation process and why? Is global convergence in insolvency truly achievable or desirable? Because they are often the target of global norms, the experience of developing regions is crucial to this debate. Accounts of reform in economies in Asia, Latin America and other emerging regions have contributed to the understanding of both the global harmonisation process and the development of insolvency in those jurisdictions. Conspicuously missing from the debates are African countries, where a wave of reform is now happening as countries on the continent catch up with the global impetus for insolvency law reform. To paint a complete picture of global trends in restructuring law and practice, an African perspective is important, especially as global interests in the continent increases. This is what motivates this thesis. One of the most significant contributions of the thesis is that it fills a gap in the harmonisation process, by revealing Africa's contribution to the building of global norms while also evaluating the impact of the harmonisation trend on restructuring and insolvency practices in Africa. The thesis evaluates recent reforms and the debt restructuring frameworks they introduce. It also considers changes in local practices, using an empirical study in Africa's largest economy, Nigeria. While it finds that that Africa is indeed contributing to the harmonisation process in insolvency, it questions whether reforms are aiming to meet development needs in African countries or whether they are merely driven by the pressure to keep up with global trends.