Africa & the Middle East

GBI works with business practitioners in Africa and the Middle East to provide opportunities for practical discussions about human rights and help advance business practice.

We have partnered with local organisations to convene a number of business roundtables on human rights in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa. These dialogues provided unique opportunities for national and multinational company representatives to discuss practical approaches to managing human rights issues at a local level.

We also collaborated with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to convene a virtual session on the UNGPs for business practitioners in advance of the first UN Africa Forum on Business and Human Rights in 2022.

We are exploring opportunities to support ongoing engagement with business practitioners in these regions.

You can read updates on business and human rights in Africa and the Middle East and access outputs from GBI's events below.

Recent developments include:

• In August 2020, Qatar introduced new laws on migrant worker rights. These allow migrant workers to change jobs before the end of their contract without first obtaining a No Objection Certificate from their employer, introduce a minimum monthly wage and oblige employers to provide workers with adequate housing and food (or pay allowances to cover these expenses). A number of recent labour law reforms have also been introduced in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. 

• A number of governments in Africa and the Middle East have developed – are developing – National Action Plans (NAPs) on Business and Human Rights. In 2021, Uganda and Kenya each formally adopted a NAP. In 2024, Nigeria and Liberia launched their NAPs. In 2025, Ghana launched its NAP. Tunisia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia Morocco are currently all in the process of developing a NAP. Non-state processes to support the development of a NAP are also underway in South Africa and Mozambique.