An African oil legislation platform will be launched on November 26 by the AfDB to promote a better understanding of oil codes and related laws, the African Bank announced.

"The African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) and the African Natural Resources Centre, both members of the AfDB group, will host on November 26, the virtual launch of the pilot phase of the Atlas of African Petroleum Legislation (APLA) project," the same source said in a statement published on its website.

The aim is to help African countries maximize the benefits of oil resources by promoting transparency, accessibility and comparison of African oil laws, facilitate the development, revision and implementation of oil laws, provide a living database that will catalyze research and policy debate on legal and regulatory issues and promote the development of local legal expertise on African oil laws.

"As a precursor to the development of the APLA platform hosting the oil laws, regulations and associated legislation of all countries on the continent, a pilot phase has been developed covering four countries: Congo, Chad, Ghana and Nigeria," the AfDB said.

This platform accessible via the link https://www.a-pla.org/site/index, was fed by high-level law students gathered within the Legal Research Team (LRT).

According to a joint statement from the ALSF and the AfDB, the LRT has been selected from a leading African university that offers a specialized program in petroleum law.