OHADA

What OHADA does

OHADA (Organisation pour l'Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires) is an intergovernmental organization established by treaty on October 17, 1993, in Port-Louis, Mauritius, and revised by treaty on October 17, 2008, in Quebec, Canada. It is jointly owned and operated by 17 African member states (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Chad, and Togo) and operates in four official languages (French, English, Spanish, Portuguese). Its purpose is to harmonize business law across member states and guarantee legal and judicial security for investors; it does so by adopting 10 directly applicable Uniform Acts (covering general commercial law, secured transactions, cooperatives, road transport contracts, accounting, arbitration, collective debt proceedings, simplified debt recovery, commercial companies, and mediation) that automatically override conflicting national legislation.

The institutional architecture comprises three principal organs: the Permanent Secretariat in Yaoundé, Cameroon (the executive arm coordinating harmonization and Council of Ministers sessions); the Cour Commune de Justice et d'Arbitrage (CCJA) in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (a 13-judge supranational court providing cassation oversight and administering regional arbitration); and the École Régionale Supérieure de la Magistrature (ERSUMA) in Porto-Novo, Benin (the regional training academy for magistrates, lawyers, notaries, and accountants). Supporting services include the Bibliothèque Numérique (a digital library with over 5,000 legal references), the online RCCM (Registre du Commerce et du Crédit Mobilier) regional business registry, and the Official Journal.

OHADA is not a commercial enterprise; revenue is generated from annual contributions by its 17 member states (set by the Council of Ministers) and from financial and technical support by international development partners including the African Development Bank, World Bank, European Union, UNDP, OIF, and bilateral French, Swiss, and Canadian cooperation agencies. Its "customers" are national judicial systems, legal professionals trained through ERSUMA, and commercial enterprises operating under OHADA law across the 17 member states. The organization is staffed by approximately 76 employees distributed across its three institutional seats.

Name

OHADA

Legal name

Organisation pour l'Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires

Website

https://ohada.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

OHADA is an intergovernmental organization of 17 African member states that harmonizes business law through 10 directly applicable Uniform Acts, enforced by the CCJA court in Abidjan, supported by training at ERSUMA in Porto-Novo, and administered from the Permanent Secretariat in Yaoundé.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Business Law Harmonization and International Legal Integration

NAICS

Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (922)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Regulatory Harmonization & Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) (BPADANAC)

Keywords

• Business law harmonization
• Uniform commercial acts
• African legal integration
• International commercial arbitration
• Legal professional training

Headquarters

HQ city

Yaoundé

HQ country

Cameroon

HQ region

Africa

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Member State Contributions: OHADA's primary revenue consists of annual contributions from its 17 member states, the amounts of which are determined by the Council of Ministers. These contributions fund the organization's operations, institutions, and activities.
2. International Partnerships and Development Aid: OHADA receives financial, technical, and administrative support from international development partners and organizations to fund capacity building, training programs, and institutional development activities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

OHADA harmonizes business law across 17 African member states through 10 directly applicable Uniform Acts governing commercial law, corporate law, secured transactions, arbitration, accounting, cooperatives, transport contracts, and debt recovery. It operates the CCJA regional court for cassation jurisdiction and arbitration, the ERSUMA academy for legal professional training, and the RCCM online business registry. The organization provides a unified supranational legal framework that overrides national law in member states.

Product overview

OHADA (Organisation pour l'harmonisation en Afrique du droit des affaires) is an intergovernmental organization established by treaty in 1993 to harmonize business law across African nations. It is not a technology product company but rather a legal harmonization institution. The organization operates through its institutional framework comprising the Traité OHADA (OHADA Treaty) as the foundational legal document, Actes Uniformes (Uniform Acts) as the harmonized legal instruments, and key institutions including ERSUMA for training, CCJA for judicial and arbitration services, and the Centre d'Arbitrage for commercial dispute resolution. Supporting services include the Bibliothèque Numérique (Digital Library) with over 5,000 references, the RCCM (Regional Commercial Registry), and official publications including the Journal Officiel and professional bulletins.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Traité OHADA révisé (Revised OHADA Treaty) Foundational treaty establishing OHADA, signed on October 17, 1993 in Port-Louis, Mauritius, and revised on October 17, 2008 in Quebec, Canada. Provides the supranational legal framework for harmonizing business law across 17 African member states, with supranational authority overriding national law.
• Actes Uniformes (Uniform Acts) Ten uniform legal instruments that are directly applicable and override national law in all 17 OHADA member states. Cover General Commercial Law, Organization of Securities/Collateral, Law of Cooperatives, Contracts for Road Transport of Goods, Accounting Law (SYSCOHADA), Arbitration, Collective Proceedings for Debt Settlement, Simplified Debt Recovery Procedures, Commercial Companies and Economic Interest Groups, and Mediation.
• CCJA - Cour Commune de Justice et d'Arbitrage (Common Court of Justice and Arbitration) Common Court of Justice and Arbitration serving as the supranational jurisdictional body in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Composed of 13 judges, it provides cassation review of OHADA law decisions and administers arbitration procedures for commercial disputes.
• Centre d'Arbitrage de la CCJA (OHADA Arbitration Center) Arbitration center administered by the CCJA providing institutional arbitration services for commercial disputes within the OHADA legal space, offering a regional alternative to national courts for international business disputes.
• ERSUMA - École Régionale Supérieure de la Magistrature Regional advanced school of the magistracy located in Porto-Novo, Benin, providing training, professional development, and documentation in business law for legal professionals across member states. Offers in-person and distance learning, including the Certificat en Arbitrage OHADA (CAO) certification.
• RCCM - Registre du Commerce et du Crédit Mobilier Regional commercial and movable credit registry providing secure business registration services accessible online across the 17 OHADA member states, enabling standardized company registration and providing legal security for businesses operating in the OHADA space.
• Bibliothèque Numérique OHADA (Digital Library) Online digital library offering access to over 5,000 references including legal texts, case law, publications, and professional practice materials related to OHADA law and business law topics.
• Journal Officiel de l'OHADA (Official Gazette) Official gazette of OHADA publishing adopted uniform acts, regulations, and decisions across member states, serving as the authoritative publication channel for OHADA legal instruments.
• Revue de l'ERSUMA (ERSUMA Academic Journal) Biannual academic journal published by ERSUMA featuring scholarly articles on OHADA law and contemporary business law topics, targeting academics and legal professionals across member states.
• Bulletin ERSUMA de Pratique Professionnelle (BEPP) Monthly bulletin published by ERSUMA covering professional practice in business law, distributed to legal practitioners including magistrates, lawyers, notaries, and accountants across member states.

Quantifiable outcome

• 17 African countries operating under unified business law framework
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered major.

• Cameroon Bar AssociationmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2026Partnership agreement signed for cooperation in legal training, professional development, and promotion of OHADA law among Cameroonian legal practitioners.
• International Francophonie Organization (OIF)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrancophone institution supporting OHADA's French-language legal documentation, training materials, and professional development programs for francophone African judges and lawyers.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• International Chamber of Commerce (ICC): Global business organization operating the world's largest institutional arbitration and ADR provider (ICC International Court of Arbitration). Comparable in the arbitration-services dimension to OHADA's CCJA Arbitration Center, though ICC operates as a private global body rather than a state-backed supranational institution.

Regional players

• East African Community (EAC): Regional economic community in East Africa pursuing common market and monetary union objectives. While geographically distinct from OHADA, it is structurally comparable as a supranational body issuing harmonized legislation with direct effect in member states.
• African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat: African Union institution implementing the continental free-trade agreement across 54 African states, including rules of origin and trade protocols. Operates as a peer regional integration framework with overlapping member states and complementary (potentially competing) mandate in harmonizing business and trade rules.
• Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS): Regional economic community with overlapping membership in OHADA's West African francophone countries. Pursues its own commercial-law and trade harmonization agenda, creating parallel regulatory architecture that OHADA must coordinate or compete with.
• Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA): African regional economic community of 21 member states pursuing trade liberalization and harmonization. Comparable in mandate scope (business-law and trade integration) but with a different geographic footprint and overlapping objectives with OHADA's harmonization work.
• West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA / WAEMU): Regional economic union of eight francophone West African states sharing a common currency (CFA franc). Comparable as a regional integration body with supranational regulatory authority over a subset of OHADA's member states; coordinates closely with OHADA on commercial-law matters.

Direct peers

• Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH): International organization developing and administering multilateral legal instruments on private international law, conflict of laws, and cross-border legal cooperation. Closely parallel to OHADA's role in providing a supranational legal architecture for cross-border commercial matters.
• United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL): Core UN body producing model laws and conventions on international commercial law, including arbitration and insolvency. OHADA's adoption of Uniform Acts on arbitration, debt recovery, and collective insolvency directly mirrors UNCITRAL's product structure.
• UNIDROIT (International Institute for the Unification of Private Law): Intergovernmental organization dedicated to harmonizing private law across jurisdictions through model laws and principles. Directly comparable to OHADA's mandate of producing harmonized legal instruments (Uniform Acts) with supranational effect, though operating globally rather than regionally.

Others

• International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF): Intergovernmental organization of francophone states supporting French-language institutions globally. Functions as both a financial/technical partner of OHADA and a structurally similar state-based membership organization advancing shared francophone policy objectives.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=hIM212ElThU
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ohada

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about OHADA