Category: Business and Human Rights Journal Symposium

African Innovations in Business and Human Rights: Towards a Child-Centred Governance Architecture

1. Introduction: The Missing Subject in BHR In today’s world, Business and Human Rights frameworks speak extensively about risk, accountability, and due diligence. Yet it is striking that a simple…

From Waste to Justice: African Grassroots Leadership in Business and Human Rights in Ethiopia

Introduction The global Business and Human Rights (BHR) agenda has gained momentum over the past two decades, driven by international frameworks such as the UN Guiding Principles 2011 and regional efforts…

Emerging Examples of the Integration of African Customary Business Governance Practices into Sub-national Regulation of  Socio-economic rights: The Anambra State Igbo Apprenticeship Law of 2025

Introduction The flexibility within the UNGPs paved the way for contextualisation of learnings from business and human rights. This is strengthened from an African perspective by Agenda 2063 and the…

African Environmental Constitutionalism as an Innovator in Business and Human Rights

Introduction African environmental constitutionalism derives from the broader concept of environmental constitutionalism, which operates on a spectrum from ‘thin’ to ‘thick’. According to Kotzé, the thin, and arguably more limited,…

African Solutions for African Challenges:  How African Legal Frameworks are Reshaping Business and Human Rights Practice

Introduction African realities require African solutions, and the Business and Human Rights (BHR) discourse is shifting from abstract theoretical frameworks to tangible enforcement mechanisms across the continent.  While global BHR…

The EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement and Corporate Accountability: Opportunities and Limitations for Protecting Human Rights

Bridging Trade and Human Rights in Southern Africa The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) States represents a significant milestone in…

Justice Without Business and Human Rights Jurisdiction: The Case of the EACJ as a Regional Judicial-Based Remedy Mechanism

Introduction Pursuant to Article 23 (1) of the EAC Treaty 1999, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) is the primary judicial organ of the East African Community (EAC or…

Building on Nyerere: Rethinking Business and Human Rights through the African Charter and (indigenous) African Perspectives

Starting on Solid Ground Regions across the so-called ‘Global South’ are rich in resources, such as oil, minerals, cobalt, gold and fertile agricultural land, that are scarce elsewhere, making them…

The Making of an African Approach to Business and Human Rights through the Repurposing of Individual “Duties”

The African System as a “Norm Leader” As Obiora Okafor and Godwin Dzah wrote, the African human rights system is rarely imagined as “an originator, agent and purveyor” of norms.…

Africa as Norm-Maker: Introducing the BHRJ/ALS Blog Symposium on Business, Human Rights, and African Legal Thought

Setting the Stage The Business and Human Rights (BHR) field has long been dominated by frameworks emanating from the Global North, most notably the 2011 United Nations Guiding Principles on…