Adesina: Rule of Law is Africa’s New Gold

By Mary Mwendwa

Nairobi, Kenya: In a powerful address to over 1,200 legal professionals and government officials at the Kenya Law Society’s 2025 Annual Conference, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, declared that the rule of law is Africa’s new gold. Speaking in Diani, he delivered a compelling closing keynote titled Public Finance, Governance, Justice and Development, drawing a clear connection between judicial independence, sound public finance, and sustainable economic growth.

Dr. Adesina emphasized that Africa’s true wealth lies not only in its abundant natural resources but also in its ability to govern them transparently, enforce contracts fairly, and deliver justice to all its citizens. “When Africa stands for the rule of law,” he asserted, “the world will stand with Africa.”

He pointed to a critical challenge: a $100 billion annual shortfall in foreign direct investment, worsened by weak rule of law rankings, debt vulnerabilities, and predatory legal practices. These include so-called “vulture fund” cases, where investors buy national debt at a discount on secondary markets only to exploit weak legal systems by suing for full repayment plus exorbitant interest and legal fees.

Citing evidence that investment flows toward nations with political stability, transparent democracies, and low corruption, Adesina outlined the essential foundations for attracting capital: an independent judiciary, strong regulatory frameworks, public accountability, and respect for intellectual property rights. He made a vital distinction between justice and development, arguing that justice is not a byproduct but the very foundation of development. For prosperity to be shared, access to justice must be universal—supported by legal aid, digitized courts, and accessible grievance mechanisms.

Adesina issued a bold call to action, urging African nations to strengthen judicial independence and transparency, reform natural resource laws to ensure benefits reach local communities, establish sovereign wealth funds for future generations, and develop robust African arbitration systems to settle disputes fairly and locally. He challenged lawyers, judges, and arbitrators to become “guardians of promise and stewards of destiny” by enforcing constitutional safeguards on public finance.

Specifically, he called on the Kenya Law Society to champion ethics and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles, accelerate the digitization of courts, improve legal infrastructure, and protect national assets from predatory debt practices.

The African Development Bank is already supporting such reforms across the continent. In Rwanda and Côte d’Ivoire, the Bank’s support for specialized commercial courts has slashed dispute resolution times by nearly half, unlocking over $1 billion in investment. In Seychelles, constitutional reforms backed by the Bank now require parliamentary approval for all sovereign borrowing, helping cut the debt-to-GDP ratio from over 100% to below 55%. In Kenya, procurement and debt transparency reforms reinforced by parliamentary oversight are helping safeguard public funds.

Known as Africa’s “Optimist-in-Chief,” Adesina concluded with an inspiring charge to the legal community: they hold the keys to transforming governance into growth and making development a daily reality rather than a distant promise. “Let us make a choice that history will record, and generations will remember,” he said. “As lawyers, justices, and guardians of the law, I urge you to uphold the rule of law, to execute justice with fairness and righteousness.”

The three-day conference, which featured prominent attendees including Kenya’s Chief Justice Martha Koome and Law Society President Faith Odhiambo, focused on themes of corporate governance, constitutionalism, responsible public finance, and the digitalization of justice—laying the groundwork for the transformative vision Adesina so passionately outlined.