Rome, 3 July 2025 – The International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) marked the conclusion of the fourth edition of its flagship International Programme for Law and Development (IPLD) – 2025 Africa Plus with a celebratory ceremony held at its headquarters in Rome.
The event concluded an intensive four-week programme, bringing together a distinguished cohort of legal professionals from across the African continent. This year’s edition, marked by enhanced support from the Directorate General for Development Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, welcomed participants from 15 countries: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The final day commenced with a dynamic working session during which participants presented the results of their collaborative research developed over the course of the programme. Divided into thematic groups, participants explored and applied UNIDROIT’s legal instruments to a range of contemporary challenges and development priorities, including the harmonisation of business laws in the ECOWAS region, the creation of an African Arbitration Centre, and innovative legal mechanisms for improving access to credit and unlocking investment, notably through the Luxembourg Rail and MAC Protocols. Other group projects focused on legal frameworks for digital innovation, cultural property restitution and management, sustainable agriculture, and cross-sectoral legal reform. These rich and thoughtful presentations reflected the breadth and depth of the participants’ legal analysis and their commitment to advancing legal harmonisation across African jurisdictions. UNIDROIT Legal Officers engaged actively in the session, offering constructive feedback and recommendations for further development of the ideas presented.
The closing ceremony was opened with remarks by UNIDROIT President Professor Maria Chiara Malaguti and featured keynote addresses from Minister Plenipotentiary Stefano Gatti, Director General for Development Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI); UNIDROIT Secretary-General Professor Ignacio Tirado; and Deputy Secretary-General Professor Anna Veneziano.
“It was really a great year,” noted President Malaguti. “We were extremely happy with the quality of the commitment of everyone involved in this edition of IPLD.”
In his address, Minister Plenipotentiary Gatti reaffirmed Africa as the top priority of Italian foreign policy and development cooperation. “You, sitting in front of me, have a key role,” he noted, “because whatever we want to do together can only be achieved if the system works – and if there are people who make the system work.” He underscored the critical role of legal certainty and the value of African legal experts in fostering environments conducive to sustainable development and investment. His remarks underscored the broader strategic vision of the Mattei Plan and how it aligns with the objectives of UNIDROIT’s IPLD Programme and its mission to promote the harmonization of private law as a driver of sustainable growth through enhanced capacities of African legal professionals.
UNIDROIT Secretary-General Professor Tirado echoed these sentiments, highlighting legal certainty as a foundational element of development. Reflecting on the importance of homegrown solutions and mutual learning, he emphasised that the IPLD Programme is not only a tool for capacity building, but also an opportunity for UNIDROIT to learn from its participants: “You are the ones who will implement our instruments, our treaties, our model laws, our principles in your countries. So thank you for teaching us – we hope you have also learnt much from our discussions.”
Deputy Secretary-General Professor Veneziano offered words of appreciation to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for their increased support, which enabled the expansion of this year’s edition. “The 2025 edition of the Programme bears a ‘Plus’ in its title, reflecting this enhanced support,” she noted, acknowledging the broader diversity of participants and the enriched structure of the Programme.
The 2025 IPLD Africa Plus edition featured a comprehensive curriculum delivered through one week of online learning and three residential weeks in Rome. Participants engaged with key UNIDROIT instruments and international legal frameworks on commercial contracts, access to credit, agricultural development, technological innovation, civil procedure reform, cultural heritage protection, and sustainable development. In addition to core training, the Programme included sessions with guest speakers from partner organisations and institutions, alongside a series of networking and cultural events designed to foster a strong sense of community and collaboration.
UNIDROIT warmly thanks all participants for their dedication, professionalism, and outstanding contributions throughout the Programme. Their commitment to applying UNIDROIT’s instruments and principles in their jurisdictions stands as a testament to the shared goal of building stronger, more harmonised legal systems in support of inclusive and sustainable development.
Meet the participants of the 2025 Africa Plus edition on this page.
Professor Iacopo Donati is the UNIDROIT/Bank of Italy Chair Holder and is mainly responsible for assisting in the Bank Insolvency project. He is Professor of Corporate and Insolvency Law at the University of Siena, and coordinates the research project ‘Pro.Re.Ba.’ (Proportionating rules on bank crisis prevention and management to the case of retail banks), which has received funding from the Italian Ministry of University. He has previously taught corporate law at the University of Venice ‘Ca’ Foscari’, at the University of Florence and at the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’.
rtered Institute of Arbitrators (London). He further holds a post-graduate diploma in law from the Kenya School of Law. Allan is also a scholar from the Hague Academy of International Law.
rofessor Ignacio Tirado was appointed Secretary-General by the Governing Council at its 97th session, and officially took office on 27 August 2018. A national of Spain, Professor Tirado (Commercial, Corporate and Insolvency Law, Universidad Autónoma of Madrid, Spain) holds a PhD from the Universities of Bologna and Autónoma de Madrid and an LLM from the University of London. Professor Tirado has been a Senior Legal Consultant at the World Bank’s Legal Vice-Presidency and Financial Sector Practice for more than nine years, having also consulted for the IMF on insolvency related matters as well as for the Asian Development Bank on commercial legal reform.
A Swedish national, Ms Lena Peters grew up in Italy where she attended an English school. In 1978 she took her Juris Kandidatexamen at Stockholm University followed by a Master of Laws from King’s College, London (1979). Since 1985 she has been with UNIDROIT, first as Research Officer, lastly as Principal Legal Officer, her main duties being Secretary to the Working Group for the Preparation of Principles of International Commercial Contracts, Secretary to the Study Group on Franchising, Secretary to the Committee of Governmental Experts on Franchising.She also collaborated on the project for the preparation of the ELI-Unidroit Model European Rules of Civil Procedure. She is currently Managing Editor of the Uniform Law Review and responsible for publications at UNIDROIT.
Marina Schneider is Principal Legal Officer and Treaty Depositary at UNIDROIT. She studied law at the University of Strasbourg (France) and Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne. She joined the UNIDROIT in 1987 and was involved in the elaboration and French versions of most UNIDROIT instruments since. She is in charge of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects and of the UNESCO-UNIDROIT Model Provisions on State Ownership of Undiscovered Cultural Objects. She is the author of the Explanatory Report of the 1995 Convention and many articles on the Convention and other international instruments in the field. Ms Schneider is also responsible for the project on private collections and for the UNIDROIT Convention Academic Project (UCAP). She is member of the Board of the International Society for Research on Art and Cultural Heritage Law (ISCHAL).
Professor of Commercial Law, Carlos III University of Madrid. Currently, Sir Roy Goode Scholar at UNIDROIT, Rome, 2021-2022. Chair of Excellence 2017-2018 at University of Oxford (Uc3m- Santander Program), affiliated to Harris Manchester College. Previously Distinguished Visiting Professor and fellow of a number of Academic Institutions. Arbitrator of Madrid Court of Arbitration. Member of ELI (European Law Institute) Council and Executive Committee. Member of the Expert Group of the European Commission on Liability and New Technologies and member of the Expert Group of the European Observatory of Platform Economy; the International Academy of Commercial and Consumer Law; the expert group of the Inclusive Global Legal Innovation Platform for Online Dispute Resolution – UNCITRAL and Hong Kong Department of Justice. Expert of the UNIDROIT Study Group on the MAC Protocol of the Cape Town Convention on International Interests. Delegate of Spain to UNIDROIT for the adoption of the Protocol, delegate of Spain in Working Group VI of UNCITRAL on secured transactions and in Working Group IV on Electronic Commerce. Member of UNIDROIT Working Groups on Enforcement and Warehouse Receipts.
William Brydie-Watson is an Australian lawyer who specialises in secured transactions law and private international law. Before joining UNIDROIT, William was a government lawyer in the Private International Law and International Arbitration section of the Australian Attorney-General’s Department, where he worked primarily on treaty negotiation and the implementation of private international law treaties in Australia. At UNIDROIT, he is primarily responsible for the implementation of the Mining, Agriculture and Construction (MAC Protocol) to the 2001 Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and the development of a Model Law on Factoring. William also serves as UNIDROIT’s liaison with the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and as manager of the Institute’s Scholarship and Internship Programme. Admitted to practice in New South Wales and the High Court of Australia, he has a Bachelor of Arts (honours), a Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Laws from the Australian National University. William also lectures on International Secured Transactions Law at the Eotvos Lorand Faculty of Law in Budapest.