Following the recent report from the Prime Minister's Africa Commission, David Greene says lawyers should be at the heart of change

Prime Minister Tony Blair's Africa Commission was established in February 2004 'to take a fresh look at the challenges Africa faces'. The commission included both African and non-African members and was not intended as another inquiry in which the West simply dictated to Africa the cure for its problems.


Its report - released several weeks ago - is to be a springboard for pushing Africa to the top of the agenda for the G8 group of countries while the UK holds the presidency at the summit in July, and at the UN Millennium Development Review conference in September. The report seeks a path to a new Africa and places law at the heart of the rapprochement.


The rule of law, good governance and the development of institutional capacity are the foundation of those recommendations. The commissioners agree that without these little can be achieved. Law and lawyers are the essential beginning, without which all that is constructed will collapse.


The report recognises that many of Africa's problems are self-imposed. In many countries, corruption of government and the civil service is endemic and military conflict with horrific consequences is a ready answer to resolving disputes.


However, military conflict is fed by the world arms industry searching for markets. Corruption is in large part generated by companies from the developed nations seeking to buy favours for the huge returns that a large development project might bring.


So what does the report identify as the role for lawyers in the process of change? Firstly, zero tolerance of corruption. Corruption often starts in the developed world. Corporations seek out the weakness in regulatory regimes by seeking to influence the decision-making process for both awarding contracts and payment. Bribes are a small part of the tendering exercise, but they can offer decision-making officials untold wealth.


Lawyers are able to promote systems of transparency; for example, in the development of mineral wealth, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative is developing a framework of transparency for payments and revenues. In São Tomé and Principe, lawyers have been assisting the government to establish a transparent system for the receipt of oil revenue.


Kleptocratic political leaders have always used banks in developed nations to launder their stolen fortunes. London remains a main conduit for the wealth stolen by those leaders lining their own pockets while their people starve. To coin a phrase, the City washes whiter than other banking centres. Lawyers, too, can inadvertently take part in the process.


The report also identifies the ways in which the West can help in the development of indigenous laws not only to curb corruption but also to establish and protect basic human rights. Lawyers can offer assistance to develop justice processes and laws that offer protection to the weakest.


The Law Society has done much work in relation to the legal aid system in Uganda. There are many projects seeking assistance either on a pro bono basis or on the reduced rates payable for aided work. One London barrister is currently representing the San community before a Botswana court, objecting to forced movement from their homelands.


Ultimately, as the report says, Africa needs a hand up, not a handout. It wants to trade. If more lawyers became familiar with Africa they might be able to encourage others to trade and offer meaningful advice to see round the problems.


David Greene is a litigation partner and head of dispute resolution at London-based law firm Edwin Coe and an executive of the Eastern Africa Business Association