The Organisation pour l'Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires ("OHADA"), which translates into English as the "Organisation for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa" is an exclusively business-related legal framework that was created on 17 October 1993 in Port Louis, Mauritius.

Initially established pursuant to a treaty adopted among 14 Member States (the "OHADA Treaty"), OHADA membership has grown to 17 since 1993.1 OHADA enacts, among other provisions, Uniform Acts that have direct effect and supersede contradictory national laws, subject to any transitional provisions stipulated by the Uniform Acts. The OHADA Treaty also created a supranational supreme court with jurisdiction over the areas of law covered by the Uniform Acts (the Cour Commune de Justice et d'Arbitrage or CCJA), in English the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration, to ensure uniformity and consistency of legal interpretation across the Member States.

The substance of the nine Uniform Acts relates to General Commercial Law; Commercial Companies and Economic Interest Groups; organizing Security Interests; organizing Simplified Recovery Procedures and Measures of Execution; organizing Collective Proceedings for Clearing Debts; Arbitration; and organizing and harmonizing Undertakings Accountings Systems; Contracts for the Carriage of Goods by Road; and Cooperative Companies.

Originally published in the EMPEA Legal & Regulatory Bulletin Spring 2014.