Making dispute resolution affordable and accessible for SMEs in Africa

With Angelo Kweli

April, 2024

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E-Arbitrator is an online dispute resolution platform that connects individuals and businesses to qualified mediators and arbitrators from around the world. Angelo Kweli founded it to support dispute resolution for SMEs across Africa. The platform resolves disputes emerging from various sectors such as insurance, construction, transportation, education, healthcare and intellectual property among others.

Arbiters, mediators and arbitral institutions can use the case and contract management system of E-Arbitrator to make their workflow with existing clients efficient. Plus, they can also use the platform’s AI-powered feature to draft contracts quickly in Microsoft Office. Presently, the platform has 465 arbiters and mediators from Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, the USA, Turkey, India and the Netherlands among others.

Angelo joined HiiL’s Justice Accelerator programme in 2021. He also was a part of ZEP-RE’s programme for startups in Rwanda. With HiiL and ZEP-RE’s support, the founder developed the value proposition of the platform and built a sustainable revenue model.

By facilitating fair and efficient dispute resolution for SMEs in Africa E-Arbitrator contributes to the creation of a more stable business environment, which in turn attracts investment, encourages entrepreneurship and promotes economic growth. Angelo’s story highlights the importance of support from funders and investors in enabling justice-tech entrepreneurs to realize their vision and make meaningful contributions to trade and economic development in post-conflict regions.

Rwanda has emerged from the shadows of violent conflict and evolved into a vibrant hub of startups and innovation. As the nation embarks on a transformative trajectory, it carries its people along. Especially the city of Kigali, whose rugged terrain of hills and slopes houses some of the best minds in the country. Among them is Angelo Kweli, the ingenious mind behind the platform E-Arbitrator. E-Arbitrator is an online dispute resolution platform that connects individuals and businesses to qualified mediators and arbitrators from around the world.

In 2021, Angelo launched E-Arbitrator as a pan-Africa online dispute resolution (ODR) platform that SMEs trading with neighbouring countries can use. Fast forward by three years, the ODR platform has expanded to include arbitrators from the USA, Turkey, India, and the Netherlands. It boasts a whopping total of 465 arbitrators, which is the largest number of arbitrators on any platform across East and Central Africa.

To know what sparked Angelo’s interest in the dispute resolution space and how he set up his startup, we dived into his entrepreneurial journey. The energetic and sharp entrepreneur walked us through his journey of growing up outside his home country, to becoming an entrepreneur poised to take on Rwanda’s justice-tech world.

"My family lived outside of Rwanda for a long time before returning to the country. We stayed in Congo, Kenya and Uganda for several decades. Living outside of our home country was not easy for us. No matter how long we lived in the host country and adapted ourselves to new cultures, we were always called outsiders" ~ shares Angelo

Beginning of Angelo’s entrepreneurial journey

After graduating from high school, Angelo received a scholarship to pursue his undergraduate studies in the USA. He went on to work with e-commerce platforms where he witnessed several disputes between buyers and sellers being resolved online. During Covid-19, his family was trying to resolve a land dispute in Rwanda. That’s when his life took an unexpected turn.

He encountered obstacle after obstacle in resolving the dispute because of the restrictions on movement and lack of online procedures. It was a frustrating time for him and his family. He wasn’t ready to give up though. In a true entrepreneurial fashion, Angelo saw an opportunity where others in his family saw a problem. Putting his learning from the e-commerce industry into action, he decided to launch an online dispute resolution centre for commercial disputes.

Around the same time, the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement was launched, heralding an era of economic integration across the continent. More specifically, the Agreement creates a single market in the African continent, where taxes on goods imported from within the continent are slashed and customs procedures and red tape are simplified. The entrepreneur foresaw a boost to inter-country trade within Africa and a corresponding surge in disputes among traders. With this thought in mind, Angelo launched E-Arbitrator.

Persevering in the face of scepticism and financial constraints

But the ride ahead also had its share of ups and downs. He encountered obstacles in the form of sceptical legal professionals and a lack of funds. Looking back at those initial days, Angelo shares,

"When I discussed the idea of taking dispute resolution online, many legal professionals were sceptical about it. They did not think it would work until I built the first version of the platform – a directory which had information on arbitrators and mediators across Africa. The directory attracted a lot of users, which convinced me that I was on the right track."

Angelo felt energised after successfully validating his idea. He built the first version of the online platform and tested it on users. Most of them suggested adding more security features to the tool. So Angelo and his team rebuilt the platform to match the expectations of the users. This iterative process was hard on the team, given that they were bootstrapping their way through it. But Angelo had conviction in his idea. He persevered and built a platform that would provide affordable and user-friendly legal services to individuals and SMEs.

How E-arbitrator works

At a fixed fee per dispute, E-Arbitrator significantly lowers the cost of resolving a dispute as compared to the steep fees of international arbitration centres which often exceed 1000 Euros. It offers individuals and businesses the convenience of resolving a dispute from their homes. Plus, a large pool of arbitrators from diverse geographies and subject matter expertise to choose from. Currently, the platform resolves disputes emerging from various sectors such as insurance, construction, transportation, education, healthcare and intellectual property among others.

Here is how the platform works. A client can select the field in which he or she is experiencing a dispute. The algorithm will then direct the client to legal experts on the platform who can support the resolution of the dispute. The disputing parties can together choose the legal expert they want to work with. Throughout the dispute resolution process, the disputing parties can engage with the legal experts using sophisticated tools. This includes video-conferencing facilities, an online case management system which monitors the progress of cases and an online payment system. Overall, clients get a seamless dispute resolution journey.

Arbiters, mediators and arbitral institutions can use the case and contract management system of E-Arbitrator to make their workflow with existing clients efficient. Plus, they can use the platform’s AI-powered feature to draft contracts quickly in Microsoft Office. In the past two years, the platform has attracted 165 paying customers and resolved 68 arbitration cases with an impressive 90% resolution rate.

Developing the business model and capturing new markets

In 2021, Angelo shared his plans to launch a start-up with a friend who had a fin-tech startup. That’s when Angelo heard about HiiL’s Justice Accelerator Programme. HiiL was gaining popularity at Norssken House, a startup hub in Kigali which his friend frequently visited. Established in 2022, the Norssken House Africa’s largest startup hub with the capacity to host over 1,000 startups.

Until then, the world of legal and justice-tech startups was unknown to him. So knowing that there exists support for upcoming entrepreneurs like him gave his spirit a boost.

"I applied to HiiL’s Justice Accelerator programme in 2022. At that time, my team and I were working towards making a minimal viable product. So HiiL coaching was extremely beneficial as it helped us in establishing the business model" ~ says Angelo reflectively

The mentors and coaches at HiiL helped Angelo identify the value proposition of the platform, market it, build a sustainable revenue model and attract investors.

Having sharpened the business model of E-Arbitrator and explored the eco-system of legal-tech and justice-tech startups, Angelo was not one to rest. He quickly ventured further and joined ZEP-RE’s insure-tech programme for startups in Rwanda. Along with providing funding and coaching, ZEP-RE opened the market of insurance companies and policyholders for E-Arbitrator. Angelo is keen to capture this market. Together with his team, he is building a custom case manager for insurance companies.

"Venturing into more dispute resolution markets will help E-Arbitrator in scaling and in generating a sustainable revenue" ~ says the entrepreneur thoughtfully

Vision for the next three years

In the next three years, Angelo envisions the expansion of E-Arbitator to more countries in West Africa. He also envisions a higher usage of the platform among SMEs. To realise this goal, the entrepreneur is building a pathway between clients who face disputes with businesses and E-Abitrator’s dispute resolution platform. This functionality makes it easy for clients of businesses that E-Arbitrator supports to use the dispute resolution process. To upskill the arbitrators and mediators on the platform, he plans on building partnerships with educational institutions that can offer training at a discounted price.

Angelo Kweli’s journey of becoming an entrepreneur exemplifies resilience, innovation, and a commitment to addressing the legal and justice needs of people. His startup E-Arbitrator fills a crucial gap in the legal landscape of Africa by offering accessible, affordable and efficient dispute resolution services to individuals and SMEs.

By facilitating fair and efficient dispute resolution for SMEs in Africa, E-Arbitrator contributes to the creation of a more stable business environment, which in turn attracts investment, encourages entrepreneurship and promotes economic growth. In this way, Angelo’s story highlights the importance of support from funders and investors in enabling justice-tech entrepreneurs to realise their vision and make meaningful contributions to trade and economic development in post-conflict regions.

References

The New Times, (2024). Rwanda’s first InsurTech Program celebrates entrepreneurship. As accessed on March 20, 2024. URL: https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/14302/news/featured/rwandas-first-insurtech-program-celebrates-entrepreneurship

Authorship

This article was written by Manasi Nikam after interviewing Angelo Kweli on February 9, 2024 and February 15, 2024.

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Making dispute resolution affordable and accessible for SMEs in Africa

Beginning of Angelo’s entrepreneurial journey

Persevering in the face of scepticism and financial constraints

How E-arbitrator works

Developing the business model and capturing new markets

Vision for the next three years

References

Authorship

Learn how to scale Gamechangers that provide platforms offering mandatory one-stop dispute resolution

Justice Dashboard

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