ZAMBIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Christopher Kapambe, Kasewe Banda, Nakasamba Banda Chanda and Chamwaza Chioneni Phiri, AMW & Company Legal Practitioners
tional capacity; and the proposed ADR Bill indicates a broader programme of modernisation. Underlying it all is a change in what arbitration is understood to be: no longer a private final hearing, but one part of a system that begins with prevention and reaches binding determination only where earlier stages have failed. The unfinished work is concentrated in four areas. The Arbitration Act remains a 1985 instrument in a market moving toward multi-party project structures. The PPP Act allocates no forum and leaves a finality provision whose effect is untested. Third-party funding remains legally uncertain even as statutory arbitration reaches parties with limited resources. Zambia also needs a fuller performance record showing time, cost, settle - ment, challenge and enforcement outcomes. Modern rules without affordable access, specialist decision- makers or measurable results do not yet amount to complete economic infrastructure.
None of these is a defect of foundation. The current reform cycle can address them by moving the ADR Bill through public consultation and enactment; inserting a standard dispute-resolution architecture into PPP documents; deepening the sector-specific arbitrator bench; and building on LIAC’s 2025 summary with regular outcome and enforcement data. For a country whose development plan depends on attracting and retaining long-term private capital, the return on that work is measured not only in disputes resolved, but in the price of the capital itself.
1211 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook