Prof Sope Williams

Professor

LLB (Lagos) LLM [cum laude] (London) PhD (Nottingham)

 

 

 

 

Sope Williams is a Professor and Head of Department of Mercantile Law, and the deputy director of the African Procurement Law Unit, Stellenbosch University. She specializes in public procurement law, anti-corruption law, sustainable development law and commercial law. She is the author of over 50 publications in the areas of anti-corruption and public procurement law, including the books: Fighting Corruption in Public Procurement: A Comparative Analysis of Disqualification or Debarment Measures (Hart, 2012); Public Procurement and Multilateral Development Banks: Law, Practice and Problems (Bloomsbury/Hart 2017) and Public Procurement Regulation for 21st Century Africa (with G Quinot; Juta, 2018). She is also an NRF B2 rated scholar.

She is an editor of the Journal of African Law (Cambridge University Press), the African Public Procurement Law Journal (Stellenbosch University) and the Global Legal Review (IWI). Sope was a member of the World Bank’s International Advisory Group on Procurement (IAGP) from 2008-2011. She is currently a member of Transparency International’s Working Group on Debarment and Exclusion, and has been involved in advising international institutions and government bodies on procurement and anti-corruption matters. For several years, she taught the UK Foreign Office course on Responsible Business at the University of Nottingham. In 2011 she was the OECD peer review for the United States’ procurement system; in 2012 she assisted the UNDP Virtual School develop training materials in anti-corruption; in 2014, she assisted the UN to draft the guidelines for open government in Africa, and in 2015 she was an EU/UNODC consultant to the Bureau of Public Procurement in Nigeria. Between 2016 and 2019, she was involved in training investigators from the Office of the Public Protector in South Africa across all the 9 provinces, and in 2019 she was nominated by the UNODC as an “anti-corruption champion”.

Sope studied law at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and subsequently undertook an LLM at the London School of Economics where she graduated with a distinction. She also completed a PhD in public procurement and anti-corruption law at the University of Nottingham, UK. Sope has taught at the universities of Stirling and Nottingham, both in the UK, and the University of Lagos in Nigeria. Sope had her research on public procurement funded by the British Academy in 2006 and 2011. Her research has also been cited by the Constitutional Court of South Africa in the case of Shaik v The State (2008).

 

 Sope Williams is ʼn Professor en hoof van die Departement van Handelsreg, en die adjunk direkteur van die “Afican Procurement Law Unit”, Stellenbosch Universiteit. Sy spesialiseer in openbare verkrygingsreg, regs-en-beleid teen korrupsie, volhoubare ontwikkelingsreg en kommersiëlereg. Sy is die skrywer van meer as 50 publikasies in die velde van reg teen korrupsie en openbare verkrygingsreg, insluitend die boeke: Fighting Corruption in Public Procurement: A Comparative Analysis of Disqualification or Debarment Measures (Hart, 2012); Public Procurement and Multilateral Development Banks: Law, Practice and Problems (Bloomsbury/Hart 2017) en Public Procurement Regulation for 21st Century Africa (saam met G Quinot; Juta, 2018). Sy is ook ʼn NRF B2 gegradeerde geleerde.

Sy is die redakteur van die Journal of African Law (Cambridge University Press), die African Public Procurement Law Journal (Stellenbosch Universiteit) en die Global Legal Review (IWI). Sope was ʼn lid van die ‘World Bank’s International Advisory Group on Procurement’ (IAGP) van 2008-2011. Sy is tans ʼn lid van ‘Transparency International’s Working Group on Debarment and Exclusion’, en het al internasionale instellings en regeringsinstansies oor verkryginsgreg en teen-korrupsie sake adviseer. Sy het vir baie jare by die Universiteit van Nottingham die VK Buitelandse kantoor oor verantwoordelike besigheid doseer. Sy was in 2011 die OECD portuuroorsig vir die Verenigde State verkrygingsreg sisteem; sy het in 2012 die UNDP virtuele skool bygestaan met die ontwikkeling van die opleidingsmateriaal in teen-korrupsie; sy het in 2014 die VN bygestaan om riglyne op te stel vir openbare regering in Afrika, en in 2015 was sy ʼn EU/UNODC konsultant vir die Buro van Openbare Verkrygingsreg in Nigerië. Tussen 2016 en 2019 was sy betrokke by die opleiding van ondersoekbeamptes van die Kantoor van die Openbare Beskermer in Suid-Afrika in al nege provinsies, en gedurende 2019 was sy genomineer deur die ‘UNODC’ as ʼn “teen-korrupsie kampioen”.

Sope het regte studeer by die Universiteit van Lagos, Nigerië, en het daarna haar LLM voltooi by die Londen Skool van Ekonomie, en het met ʼn onderskeiding gegradueer. Sy het ook haar PhD voltooi in openbare verkrygingsreg en teen-korrupsie by die Universiteit van Nottingham, Engeland. Sope het doseer by die Universiteite van Stirling en Nottingham, beide in Engeland, en by die Universiteit van Lagos, Nigerië. Sope se navorsing oor openbare verkryging was finansiële ondersteun deur die Britse Akademie in 2006 en 2011. Haar navorsing was ook deur die Konstitusionele Hof van Suid-Afrika aangehaal in die saak van Shaik v The State (2008).

 

Fields of specialisation

Mercantile Law, Public Procurement Law, Anti-Corruption Law and Policy, International Economic Law, Development Law.

 

Areas van belangstelling

Mercantile Law, Public Procurement Law, Anti-Corruption Law and Policy, International Economic Law, Development Law.

Publications/Publikasies 

 Books/Boeke 

  • S Williams and J Tillipman (eds) Routledge Handbook of Public Procurement Corruption, (Routledge, 2024).
  • G Quinot and S Williams-Elegbe (eds), Public Procurement Regulation in Africa: Development in uncertain times (Lexis Nexis 2020).
  • Williams-Elegbe and G. Quinot (eds), Public Procurement Regulation for 21st Century Africa (Juta Publishing, 2018).
  • Williams-Elegbe, Public Procurement and Multilateral Development Banks: Law, Practice and Problems (2017 Bloomsbury Publishing, UK).
  • Williams-Elegbe, Fighting Corruption in Public Procurement: A Comparative Analysis of Debarment or Disqualification Measures (2012, Hart Publishing, UK). Book review published in (2015) 24 (1) Public Procurement Law Review, 31.

Chapters in books/Hoofstukke in boeke 

  • Williams and J Tillipman “Overview of corruption and public procurement” in in S Williams and J Tillipman (eds) Routledge Handbook of Public Procurement Corruption, (Routledge, 2024).
  • Williams, “Nigeria” in S Williams and J Tillipman (eds) Routledge Handbook of Public Procurement Corruption (Routledge, 2024).
  • Williams-Elegbe, “Promoting Gender Equality in Africa through Gender Responsive Public Procurement” in A Ordu and N Ntungire (eds) Foresight Africa 2024 (Brookings Institution, 2024). Available at https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ForesightAfrica2024.pdf
  • Williams, “Public Procurement” in M Pieth and T Soreide, Elgar Concise Encyclopaedia on Corruption Law (Edward Elgar, 2023).
  • Williams-Elegbe, “Public procurement as an instrument to pursue human rights protection” in A Marx, G Van Calster & J Wouters, Research Handbook on Global Governance, Business and Human Rights (Edward Elgar, 2022).
  • G Quinot, S Williams-Elegbe & KT Udeh, “Africa: The Contrasting Cases of South Africa and Nigeria” in S Arrowsmith QC, L Butler, A La Chimia and C Yukins (eds) Public Procurement in (a) Crisis:  Global lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic (Hart, 2021).
  • Williams-Elegbe, “The Implications of Negotiated Settlements for Debarment in Public Procurement: A Preliminary Inquiry” in A Makinwa and T Søreide (eds) Negotiated Settlements in Bribery Cases: A Principled Approach (Edward Elgar, 2020).
  • Williams-Elegbe, ‘Public Procurement, Corruption and Blockchain Technology in South Africa: A Preliminary Legal Inquiry’ in in G Quinot and S Williams-Elegbe (eds) Public Procurement Regulation in Africa: Development in uncertain times (Lexis Nexis 2020).
  • LaChimia and S. Williams-Elegbe, “The Use of Country Systems” in A. La Chimia and P Trepte (eds), Public Procurement and Aid Effectiveness: A Roadmap under construction (Hart/Bloomsbury, 2019).
  • Yukins and S. Williams-Elegbe, “The World Bank’s Procurement Framework: An Assessment of Aid Effectiveness in A. La Chimia and P Trepte (eds), Public Procurement and Aid Effectiveness: A Roadmap under Construction (Hart/Bloomsbury, 2019).
  • Williams-Elegbe, ‘Human rights in the context of procurements financed by the World Bank in O Martin-Ortega and C Methven O’Brien (eds) Public procurement and human rights: Opportunities, risks and dilemmas for the state as buyer (Edward Elgar, 2019).
  • Williams-Elegbe, ‘Article 10: Public Reporting’ in M Kubiciel, O Landwehr and C Rose (eds), The United Nations Convention Against Corruption: A Commentary (Oxford University Press, 2019).
  • Quinot and S. Williams-Elegbe, ‘The new challenges and opportunities for public procurement regulation in Africa’ in S Williams-Elegbe and G Quinot (eds) Public Procurement Regulation for 21st Century Africa (Juta Publishing, 2018).
  • Williams-Elegbe, ‘Bidder and Contractor Remedies in Procurements Funded by the Multilateral Development Banks: The Case of the World Bank’ in S Williams-Elegbe and G Quinot (eds) Public Procurement Regulation for 21st Century Africa (Juta Publishing, 2018).
  • Williams-Elegbe ‘Big, Bigger, Biggest: Grand corruption scandals in the oil sector in Nigeria’ in O Hawthorne and S Magu (eds), Corruption Scandals and their Global Impacts (Taylor and Francis, 2018).
  • Ojo & S. Williams-Elegbe, “Rethinking Wealth Creation in Nigeria: Exploiting Data as the “New Oil” In IO Albert, D Nathaniel & J Ololajulo (eds.) Rethinking Knowledge Economy and Nigeria’s National Security: A Festschrift in honour of Bashorun Seinde Arogbofa (Ibadan, 2015).
  • Akande & S. Williams, “International Adjudication on National Security Issues: What Role for the WTO?” In L Bartels, and F Ortino (eds). The Regulation of Goods Vol. II (Ashgate Publishing, 2013).
  • Williams-Elegbe, “A Perspective on Corruption and Public Procurement” In: S Arrowsmith, and G Quinot, eds. Public Procurement Regulation in Africa (Cambridge University Press, 2013).
  • Williams, “The limitations of penal mechanisms to fight corruption in public procurement”. In: M Kreutner, ed. Practice Meets Science: Contemporary Anti-Corruption Dialogue. (Manz Publishing, Vienna, 2010).
  • Williams, “Coordinating public procurement to support EU objectives- a first step? The case of exclusions for serious criminal offences”. In: S Arrowsmith, and P Kunzlik, eds. Social and Environmental Policies in EC Procurement Law. (Cambridge University Press, 2009).

Journal articles/Joernaalartikels 

  • S. Williams, Gender-Responsive Public Procurement in Africa: Barriers and Challenges. (2024) Journal of African Law 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021855324000032.
  • S. Williams, “An examination of the barriers to gender-responsive public procurement in South Africa” Stellenbosch Law Review (2023) (3) 361-386.
  • Ebenezer Durojaye, Olivia Lwabukuna, Lutz Oette, and Sope Williams-Elegbe, COVID-19 and the Law in Africa (2021) 65 Journal of African Law 173.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, An uncertain future for debarment in South Africa: An analysis of the debarment provisions in the 2019 draft public procurement bill (2020) 7 African Public Procurement Law Journal 34.
  • G. Quinot and S. Williams-Elegbe, Some African responses to public procurement for and during COVID-19 (2020) 30 (4) Public Procurement Law Review, 232.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, Asian Development Bank Sanctions Process (2020) Max Planck Encyclopaedia of International Procedural Law. Available from https://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law-mpeipro/e3178.013.3178/law-mpeipro-e3178?rskey=wcmjY6&result=1&prd=MPIL.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, Systemic Corruption and Public Procurement in Developing Countries: Are there any solutions? (2018) 18 (2) Journal of Public Procurement 131-147.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, Review of The Impact of Corruption on International Commercial Contracts, Ius Comparartum- Global Studies in Comparative Law, Edited by Michael Joachim Bell and Olaf Meyer. (Springer Publishing, Switzerland, 2015), (2018) 135 (2) South African Law Journal 393-398.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, Corporate Governance Rating Systems as a Means of Targeting Corporate Misconduct in Africa: The Nigerian Example (2017) 4 (1) Journal of Comparative Law in Africa 1-23.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, Debarment in Africa: A Cross-Jurisdictional Evaluation (2016) 3 Public Procurement Law Review 71-90.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, “The Evolution of the World Bank’s Procurement Framework: Reform and Coherence for the 21st Century” (2016) 16 (1) Journal of Public Procurement 23-52.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, Citizen’s response to irresponsible (or constrained) leadership as a catalyst for change: a critical assessment of leadership and followership in Nigeria” (2015) 60 Journal of Corporate Citizenship 27-40.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, “An Introduction to Health Care Procurement in Nigeria and its Relationship to Development”, (2015) 1 Unilag Journal of Humanities 1-13.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, A Comparative Analysis of Public Procurement Reforms in Africa: Challenges and Prospects (2015) 1 The Swedish Procurement Law Journal (Upphandlingsrattslig Tidskrift) 11-32.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe “A comparative analysis of the Nigerian Public Procurement Act with International Best Practice” (2015) 59 (1) Journal of African Law 85-98.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, “The Changes to the World Bank’s Procurement Policy and the Implications for African Borrowers”, (2014) 1 African Public Procurement Law Journal 22.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, “Beyond UNCITRAL: The Challenge of Procurement Reform Implementation in Africa” (2014) 1 Stellenbosch Law Review 209.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, “The World Bank’s Influence on Procurement Reform in Africa (2013) 21 (1) African Journal of International and Comparative Law, 95-119.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, “The Reform and Regulation of Public Procurement in Nigeria” (2012) 41 (2) Public Contract Law Journal, 339.
  • S Williams & A. Eyo, “Fighting Corruption in Public Procurement through the OECD: A review of recent initiatives” (2009) 18 (3) Public Procurement Law Review, NA103-113.
  • S. Williams, “The mandatory contractor exclusions for serious criminal offences in UK public procurement” (2009) 15 (3) European Public Law, 429-444.
  • S. Williams & G. Quinot, “To debar or not to debar: When to endorse a contractor on the Register for Tender Defaulters”, (2008) 125 (2) South African Law Journal, 246-256.
  • S. Williams, “The BAE/Saudi Al-Yamamah Contracts: Implications in Law and Public Procurement” (2008) 57 (1) International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 200-208.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, Review of Simon Evers Hjelmborg et al, Public Procurement Law- The EU Directive on Public Contracts [online], European Law Books. Available at: [08 Mar 2007].
  • S. Williams, “The Risks of Corruption and the Risks of Fighting Corruption in EC Public Procurement” (2007) 2 European Current Law, xi-xiv.
  • S. Williams, “World Bank introduces new measures to reduce fraud and corruption in Bank-financed projects and the administration of Bank loans.” (2007) 16 (5) Public Procurement Law Review, NA152-157.
  • S. Williams-Elegbe, Review of Steven Kelman, Unleashing Change: A Study of Organizational Renewal in Government. (2007) 16 (3) Public Procurement Law Review, 197-199.
  • S. Williams, “The Debarment of Corrupt Contractors from World Bank Financed Contracts” (2007) 36 (3) Public Contract Law Journal, 277-306.
  • S. Williams & G. Quinot, “Public Procurement and Corruption: The South African response” (2007) 124 (2) South African Law Journal, 339.
  • S. Williams, “The Use of Exclusions for Corruption in Developing Country Procurement: The case of South Africa” (2007) 51 (1) Journal of African Law, 1.
  • S. Williams, “The Mandatory Exclusions for Corruption in the New EC Procurement Directives”, (2006) European Law Review, 711.
  • S. Williams, “The Development of Defence Procurement Policy in Nigeria and the Case for Reform, (2005) 14 Public Procurement Law Review, 153.
  • S. Williams, “Nigeria, its Women and International Law: Beyond Rhetoric”, (2004) 4 Human Rights Law Review, 229.
  • S. Williams “Review of Perspectives in International Economic Law”, Asif Qureshi (eds.) (Kluwer Law: 2002) (2004) 53 International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 262.
  • S. Williams & D. Akande, “International Adjudication on National Security Issues: What Role for the WTO?” (2003) 43 Virginia Journal of International Law, 365.
  • S. Williams, “The WTO and Labour Rights Revisited” (2002) 14 Sri Lanka Journal of International Law, 135.
  • S. Williams, Review of The Human Rights Obligations of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, S.I Skogly, (Cavendish: 2001) (2002) 10 (2) Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, 195.

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