Beyond the brief.

MAY and Company proudly joined this year’s highly anticipated ACL Conference 2025 as a Gold Sponsor.

As a dynamic full-service corporate law firm, MAY and Company has continued to provide comprehensive legal solutions across arbitration, business formation, M&A, employment, compliance, data privacy, and more. We were incredibly grateful for their generous support and contribution to the event’s success.

The conference took place in Nairobi, Kenya, bringing together legal professionals from across Africa to connect, collaborate, and innovate in construction law.

To learn more about MAY and Company, visit: /en/

Our Partner, Harriet Mdala, participated as a speaker at the Africa Construction Law (ACL) Conference 2025, which took place on 22 May in Nairobi.

She joined an esteemed panel including Joana Brandão, Paula Ochango, Ayodele Adeyemi-Faboya, Rajat Singla, and Pawel Piotrowski to discuss the topic:
“Improving Project Bankability: The 90% Challenge.”

The session offered valuable insights into strategies that can enhance project viability across the continent.

Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gsduXZGp

We would love to congratulate Chilufya Lwando-Sinkala, who graduated on 24 April 2025 with a Master of Corporate and Commercial Law from the University of Lusaka.

What began as a desire for professional growth and a stand against academic stagnation turned into a journey marked by personal and professional challenges. Through it all, Chilufya persevered, and now celebrates a story of growth, resilience, and triumph.

All’s well that ended well — congratulations once again!

A huge congratulations to Nsunge Makonda, Benny Ethan Nkhowane, Boniface Kalemba, Kenneth Bwembya, and Kuzanga Chipeta on their graduation! Their hard work and dedication had truly paid off.

We warmly welcomed them to the legal profession — the future looked bright!

Lusaka Arbitration Week 2025 set the stage for thought-provoking discussions on the future of dispute resolution and the evolving role of ADR in emerging markets.

Key Takeaways from Day 1:

1. Promoting Swiftness in Dispute Resolution
   Disputes should not hinder progress. The longer a dispute remained unresolved, the more it undermined the purpose of a project. ADR practitioners emphasized the need for efficiency, as unresolved disputes in critical sectors—such as energy, infrastructure, and healthcare—left millions without essential services.

2. Demystifying ADR
   ADR was not just for the elite. It mirrored traditional dispute resolution methods used by community leaders, much like King Solomon’s wisdom in resolving conflicts. The need to make ADR accessible and widely understood was a central theme.

3. Energy PPPs – Energy as a Human Right
   Access to energy was recognized as a fundamental right. While PPPs in the energy sector focused on commercial viability, they also needed to address energy deficits sustainably. However, concerns were raised about Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) and Power Supply Agreements (PSA), as their fine print often created long-term financial burdens for governments and consumers.

   In dispute resolution, clauses should not become financial traps where resolving conflicts was so costly that parties felt forced to accept unfavorable terms.

4. The Need for Robust Legal Frameworks for Energy PPPs
   For energy PPPs to be effective, countries needed strong legal frameworks ensuring transparency, fairness, and adaptability. Well-regulated PPAs and PSAs prevented imbalances where one party (often the off-taker) bore excessive risks. A solid legal foundation fostered investor confidence while ensuring disputes were resolved without stalling development.

Looking forward to Day 2, where discussions focused on Construction Adjudication, the Role of Courts in ADR, and FIDIC in Focus.

#ADR #DisputeResolution #LusakaArbitrationWeek2025