We are pleased to announce the appointments of Dr Gaston Kenfack Douajni, Sami Houerbi and Ikpeme Nkebem who were appointed to the AfAA Board of Directors as  President, Director and Secretary General respectively at the Association's Annual General Meeting in Ghana on 3rd November 2022. The appointments will ensure the AfAA Board has adequate regional representation in Francophone,  North Africa and West Africa.

Dr Gaston KENFACK DOUAJNI is a Magistrate, currently the Director of Legislation at the Ministry of Justice in Cameroon; he has obtained a Doctorate of International Economic Law at the University of Paris I (Pantheon Sorbonne) in 2005, a Certificate on trade, negotiations and settlement of trade disputes at the Kennedy School of Government –Harvard University (USA) in 2004 and an Habilitation to Direct Researches at the University of Pau in France. He is the Editor of the “Revue Camerounaise de l’Arbitrage”, the President of the Association for the Promotion of Arbitration in Africa (APAA), registered on the list of arbitrators and conciliators at ICSID, at the OHADA Common Court of Justice and Arbitration and Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). In addition, Gaston KENFACK DOUAJNI is a member of the Board of Directors of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA) and of the International Federation of Arbitration Centres and Associations (IFCAI). President of the 49th Session of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), he teaches business law at various universities (in Africa and Europe) and has recently been promoted as the Chair of the Management Board of the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF). Gaston KENFACK DOUAJNI sits as President of Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitrator, co-arbitral in ICC, ICSID, CCJA arbitration procedures.

Sami Houerbi is the founder of Houerbi Law Firm. Sami is an arbitration lawyer with more than 25 years’ experience, practicing in international commercial arbitration involving disputes in energy, international distribution, joint ventures, construction and foreign investment.
He acts as Arbitrator and Counsel in ad hoc and institutional arbitration under the ICC, DIAC and CRCICA…
From 2005 to 2021, Sami acted as Director of the ICC International Court of Arbitration for the Mediterranean, Middle-East and Africa.
Sami has a diverse legal background covering North African, French and German jurisdictions. He is also fluent in French, Arabic, English and German.

Ikpeme Nkebem is a Fellow, an approved Tutor, Assessor and Examiner of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, United Kingdom and a Past Member of the Executive of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, United Kingdom (Nigeria Branch). He is also a Member of the Chartered Institute of Economists of Nigeria, Member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), and of course, Member of the African Arbitration Association (AfAA). He has vast knowledge and more than a decade’s experience in the teaching and practice of both Domestic and International Arbitration and has acted in several other capacities such as Arbitrator and Registrar.  He has also conducted accredited trainings for different stages of Membership for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) and organized both Domestic and International Conferences, Seminars, Workshops, Colloquia for the Nigerian Bar and Bench and other Bodies/Organizations too numerous to mention, whilst achieving great success. His passion for quick resolution of disputes earned him a Certification by Africa International Legal Awareness (AILA), United Kingdom, for Investment Treaty Law and Arbitration. He has attended as well as taken part in numerous Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Symposia, Conferences, Seminars cutting across Nigeria, Africa and the World at large.