Regulatory Framework

This online event holding on zoom on Wednesday, 31 March 2021 4pm - 5:30pm (GMT) is co-hosted by the Centre for Business Law and Practice and the Centre for Law and Social Justice. 

The purpose of this post is to examine the concept of due diligence.  By building on a notion common to the fields of corporate law and human rights law, due diligence became a bridge for the business and human rights (BHR). In order to meet with the expectations from victims of corporate abuses, a BHR due diligence must develop its proper concept, particularly in the field of reparations and access to remedies.

Digitalisation is changing the way we understand IEL. New streams of revenue generation resulting from online or digital economic activities remains untapped and unapplied towards steering economic growth. Despite the fact that these new digital models have been met with novel regulatory and tax approaches globally, they are proving problematic in terms of identifying the activity upon which tax should be based. This is because traditional tax rules do not contemplate digital aspects as sources of taxable income. The role of IEL in the digitalisation of the economy therefore, merits consideration, specifically in the area of domestic resource mobilisation as a factor for economic growth especially in Africa.

India’s experience with payment banks raises questions about how successful PSBs will be in improving financial inclusion in Nigeria. India’s experience may suggest that niche banking institutions with multiple product offerings may not successfully drive the m-payments market. MNOs are non-traditional financial institutions that may be disincentivised from investing in the m-payments market if they are subject to stringent regulations. While it is still too early to determine the impact of the new PSBs, they will likely face the same difficulties as their Indian counterparts.

For the objective of AfCFTA not to be defeated through the menace of trade-based laundering of illicit funds, African member states must be proactive to ensure that all necessary measures and regulations are put in place in combating TBML that may ensue therefrom before AfCFTA comes into full implementation.