Image: Clara Sanchiz / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
BRIPAN's annual international conference in Lagos focused on rescue rather than liquidation, four years into CAMA 2020's restructuring regime.
The Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN) held its annual international insolvency conference on 24 and 25 September 2026 at the Civic Centre in Lagos, under the theme “Building an Insolvency Architecture for a New World Order”.
The message
BRIPAN Vice President Abiodun Ariyibi, chairman of the conference planning committee, said Nigeria’s insolvency framework must respond to economic uncertainty, technological disruption, regulatory change and climate risk, and that “economic transformation cannot be achieved by creating new businesses alone; it also requires preserving and revitalising existing ones”.
The framework
The Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 introduced company voluntary arrangements, administration and netting, giving Nigeria modern rescue tools for the first time. Uptake has been limited. Banks continue to rely on receivership under debentures and, for large exposures, on AMCON’s statutory powers, while debtors often use injunctions to delay enforcement. Cross-border insolvency lacks a statute adopting the UNCITRAL Model Law.
Why it matters now
High interest rates through 2025 and 2026, currency depreciation and sector-specific pressures in manufacturing, aviation and power have increased corporate distress. The insurance recapitalisation deadline has already led NAICOM to revoke licences and appoint receivers and provisional liquidators, and more financial institutions face capital thresholds. A functioning administration regime would preserve value in these cases. Lenders and borrowers alike benefit from practitioners who can use the CAMA tools rather than defaulting to litigation.
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