ZAMBIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Christopher Kapambe, Kasewe Banda, Nakasamba Banda Chanda and Chamwaza Chioneni Phiri, AMW & Company Legal Practitioners
The second lesson is the distinction between the State and its commercial vehicles. The State Proceedings Act protects the State itself from execution, which is the most significant limitation on compulsory arbitra - tion in procurement, where the counterparty is ordi - narily a government body. A company incorporated under the Companies Act and listed on the Lusaka Securities Exchange does not have that protection. The third lesson is that an award cannot be used to bypass separate legal personality. Precise identifica - tion of the obligor is among the most consequential decisions in Zambian transaction drafting. An award binds only the parties to it. In Star Drilling and Explo- ration Limited v National Technologies Limited , the Supreme Court confirmed that piercing the corpo - rate veil at the enforcement stage is a separate claim requiring its own proceedings. Judicial support, enforcement and a bill that remains a bill Recent cases remain supportive while policing juris - dictional boundaries: • in Cobham Capital Limited v African Inland Con- tainer Depot Zambia Limited , the Court of Appeal confined public policy challenges to matters such as fraud, bribery and serious denial of natural jus - tice and rejected merits review; • Barak Fund SPC Limited v The Attorney General confirmed that non-parties cannot be compelled to arbitrate; • Roland Imperial Tobacco v Bpifrance Assurance Export held that an arbitration clause does not bind an assignee who never contracted; and • SA Airlink ( Pty ) Limited v Zambia Skyways Limited set aside an award because the arbitrator exceed - ed jurisdiction. Therefore, support for finality operates within the tri - bunal’s mandate. These decisions show the courts’ legal posture, not the time or cost of enforcement. LIAC’s 2025 baseline recorded seven cases involving 15 parties from three jurisdictions, four domestic and three international, valued from about USD10,000 to USD40 million; ener - gy represented 42.9%. Tanzania separately reported
380 arbitration, mediation or adjudication disputes since 2023, with 250 resolved. Though not directly comparable, publication permits scrutiny of speed and cost. Zambia should publish anonymised data on duration, settlement, challenges and enforcement. The Zambia Law Development Commission handed the draft Alternative Dispute Resolution Bill to Govern - ment in February 2026. Public descriptions indicate alignment with the 2006 Model Law revisions, emer - gency arbitration, statutory mediation and construc - tion adjudication. As at August 2026, however, it has not been tabled or enacted and no definitive text is public; its contents indicate the direction of reform, not settled law. The proposed mediation framework deserves sepa - rate attention. Long-term mining, energy and PPP arrangements often require the parties to continue working together after a dispute. Time-limited media - tion within a tiered clause can preserve that relation - ship and resolve smaller claims before arbitration costs become disproportionate. Standard docu - ments should, however, state whether mediation is mandatory, how it affects limitation periods and urgent interim relief and how any settlement is recorded and enforced; otherwise, a cost-saving step can become a procedural trap. Long-term contracts being negotiated now may mature into disputes after legal reform. They should therefore: • accommodate the present Act and successor legislation; • align consolidation, joinder and coordinated-pro - ceeding provisions; • specify payment and award currency; and • preserve dispute-board mechanisms until statutory adjudication is operational. Funding the dispute: third-party funding and the affordability of arbitration None of the foregoing matters if the party with the stronger claim cannot afford to pursue it. A contest - ed LCIA arbitration comparable to the proceedings brought by Trafigura against ZCCM-IH may cost each party several million dollars before an award is ren -
1209 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook