Regulation of Competition in the Telecommunications Sector: A Comparative Study of the Korean and Nigerian Legal Regimes

The liberalisation of telecommunications sectors in many countries has brought with it the need to regulate and develop regulatory models for competition. South Korea and Nigeria followed the liberalisation trend of the telecommunications markets in late 1980s and 1990s. Both countries have also established competition laws and adopt various regulatory models. This paper, through a comparative analysis, examines how both countries regulate competition in their telecommunications markets. It argues that their regulatory models have merits and demerits which may affect efficient regulation of competition in the industry. It concludes that notwithstanding the pros and cons of their regulatory models, the regulatory choices are tailored to meet the peculiarities of their markets and reflect the environment in which they are used. Also, the Nigerian model reflects its slow level of telecommunication development and the more sophisticated the industry becomes, it becomes imperative for its regulatory regime to become sector-specific.

The Socialization of Human Rights and The African Human Rights Action Plan: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities

This article critically analyzes human rights socialization in Africa through the lens of the draft African Human Rights Action Plan (AHRAP). It argues that the AHRAP presents a framework for human rights socialization, and it speaks to human rights socialization in distinctive ways. The article demonstrates that the AHRAP relies on African and international influences and seeks to propagate norms inspired by these influences. It analyzes three key issues from the AHRAP and discusses how those issues shape understanding of continental human rights socialization in Africa. These issues are the multiple roles and positions of the African Union, the identity of actors to whom socialization processes apply or ought to apply, and the nature of norms which are the focus of socialization efforts. The article’s analysis of these issues along with the AHRAP’s reliance on African and other influences reveal a path for human rights socialization in Africa that is both challenging and promising.

Taxing the Digital Economy: Nigeria’s Financial Act 2019 and Significant Economic Presence Order 2020

This note outlines the salient provisions of the Significant Economic Presence Order 2020 and its implications for non-resident companies with business interests in Nigeria’s digital economy. It also identifies some impediments to the implementation of the new digital tax regime.

Why Is The Hague Sitting on the Fence in Prosecuting Boko Haram Terrorism in Nigeria?

On 18 November, 2010 a preliminary examination of the situation in Nigeria was announced and for almost a decade, investigation has not yet begun. Ten potential cases have been identified, seven for Boko Haram and three for Nigerian Security Forces (NSF). This article investigates whether issues of complementarity and admissibility provide any legal barriers capable of withholding investigation; and whether granting national amnesty to Boko Haram can hinder investigation and prosecution by the International Criminal Court. It employs a qualitative methodological approach for investigation and evaluation regarding the issues discussed. It argues that the situation in Nigeria has met the entire legal framework for investigation and prosecution to proceed and that the arrest of Abubakar Shekau, Abu Musab AlBarnawi, and Abu Abdullahi Ibn Umar al-Barnawi, the Boko Haram leaders will weaken the group, and provide the needed external help and intervention desired to end the terrorism.

An Overview of the State of Electoral Democracy in Africa

Most recent accounts paint a bleak and gloomy picture of the state of global democracy. This is particularly so in Africa where the optimism of a democratic revival in the 1990s is rapidly giving way to narratives of doom and gloom. Using survey data compiled by well-established regional and global international organisations, this paper assesses the state of electoral democracy in Africa, reviews the challenges that have been encountered, and considers the prospects for the future. The trend in the evolution of electoral democracy on the continent in the last three decades points to an authoritarian mobilisation and resurgence. Although elections have become the norm, these elections are increasingly being used to disguise all forms of undemocratic governance. The major lesson to be drawn from the study is that there is no African country where democracy and constitutionalism can be thought of as firmly consolidated and secure. The number of countries which are declining due to failed or flawed electoral processes, or which show signs of stagnation, far exceed those that have improved to one degree or another. Current developments are not random ad hoc efforts to undermine the credibility of elections and democracy but rather, rational and well-calculated responses by ruling African elites who seek to perpetuate their rule. What this points to is the need to rethink strategies for promoting genuinely competitive elections, democracy, and constitutionalism.

The Emergence of Artificial Intelligence in Africa and its Impact on the Enjoyment of Human Rights

Meeting the rising need for development and tackling the attendant challenges in Africa requires pragmatic and innovative strategies. Although there is evidence that political governance is improving across the continent, these improvements are not meeting the expectations and needs of several sections of the society. Artificial Intelligence (AI) seems to be one tool with a great potential to address these current challenges. Just like every innovative technology, AI has both positive and negative aspects. This article examines the human rights implications of AI introduction into Africa in light of rights enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Exploring the Basis for the Increasing Medical Negligence Claims in South Africa

Litigation arising from medical negligence have continued to witness an incremental trajectory in the contemporary South African medical jurisprudence. As the number of claims continue to rise, so also does the financial expense in the form of cost of litigation on the part of the litigants and damages paid by the healthcare personnel and government agencies in successful cases. Such expense, however, palls into oblivion when compared with the reputational damage attendant such negligent conducts on the parts of both the healthcare personnel and the healthcare institutions. On the positive side, however, is that the growing instances of such claims have brought to the fore the need to interrogate the reasons and seek solutions with a view to attaining a more efficient health service delivery system in the country.

Regulating Artificial Intelligence through a Human Rights-Based Approach in Africa

While the dawn of Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions have aided in solving some of societal challenges, globalization and technological innovation potentially have the capability to disrupt, suspend, or change existing legal order, preventing the realization of business and human rights principles. For example, with AI-enabled systems, Africans can now access better healthcare, education, health, and transportation. However, AI has the potential to undermine human rights concerns. This article contextualizes the usage of AI systems and its implications for human rights violations. With particular reference to Africa, it gives an overarching context capable of constructing legal reactions to corporate related human rights violations. Some of the questions posed are: What are the ways human rights can be protected from exploitative tendencies of AI companies? How can African states, and businesses respond to regulatory challenges triggered by loss of work due to automation? What innovations and new methodologies are to be designed to engage with a sustainable and automated future? Finally, we propose reforms for corporate entities developing and deploying AI to respect human rights.

The Political Representation Crisis in Central Africa

The crisis of political representation in Central Africa is structural. It is intrinsically linked to the failure of democracy in the region. All states of Central Africa are states of law in which the people have a major role to play as the holders of national sovereignty. In fact, the presidential regime allows the president of the republic to concentrate all powers. At each constitutional revision, the chief executive affirms his supremacy over the nation. Such a situation combined with the absence of political alternation in Central Africa is leading to a rejection of political representation by an ever growing segment of the population.

Reconciliation without Justice: The State and the Invalidation of Victimhood in Post-colonial Zimbabwe, 1980–2017

This article calls for the location of victimhood rather than political convenience at the centre of Zimbabwe’s peace-building matrix. From the attainment of independence in 1980 to the military assisted end of President Robert Mugabe’s rule in November 2017, Zimbabwe’s episodic cycles of violence were concluded through elite bargained amnesty ordinances, state mediated reconciliation pronouncements and clemency orders that unconditionally benefitted perpetrators at the expense of victims. The forgive-and-forget ethic central to these routine and fractional peace building measures, I argue, not only disregarded the rule of law but negated victimhood and rendered justice divisible. Victims of politically motivated violence could not secure redress through the courts of law against amnestied perpetrators as this would amount to double jeopardy. The government withheld prosecutorial justice against perpetrators and disregarded reparations for victims. Within the national legislative framework ordinary legislators could not move motions compelling the government to compensate survivors of violence because only the vice-presidents and ministers could move motions that had the consequence of either depleting state revenues or causing the imposition of additional taxes on citizens. Considering that ministers who had the prerogative to move such motions served in cabinet at the behest of their intractable president they could hardly embarrass or contradict their principal. Essentially, the Robert Mugabe led Zimbabwean government established legal firewalls for perpetrators of politically motivated violence which ipso facto invalidated the quest for justice by victims of the country’s ever recurring cycles of violence. This authoritarian legalism disregarded victimhood and emboldened human rights violators.