Bowman Gilfillan addresses debt recovery

Bowman Gilfillan consultant Emile Myburgh said a decade ago, most of the advice the company dispensed to foreign companies about investing in Angola was about the most appropriate corporate structure, drawing up agreements between foreign and Angolan companies, applying for ANIP (Angolan National Private Investment) approval, translating loads of documents and then having everything certified by the Angolan Consulate. He said the translation and legalisation costs often exceeded legal fees. 'While we still regularly advise on setting up foreign businesses in Angola, some companies have now encountered the bane of doing business anywhere, namely clients who do not pay, resulting in legal action against a defendant that finds itself in Angola, in a jurisdiction that is unknown to the investor. Often the agreements would provide for arbitration to take place in Johannesburg or elsewhere, subject to South African law or some other legal system in which both parties have faith. If not, the investor is in the hands the Angolan legal system.' However, he points out that, despite fears to the contrary, the Angolan legal system is very sophisticated. 'It may be bureaucratic and slow, but in general it caters for most issues that modern business may present. The problem, not insurmountable, usually lies in enforcing those same sophisticated rules, which can often be painstakingly slow.'