The quest to build bridges between Asia and Africa is longstanding. A Chinese Admiral -- Zheng He -- led a series of voyages from East Asia to East Africa, down to Kenya and possibly Zanzibar, from the year 1405. The ships he navigated were enormous -- about 400 feet long and 100 feet wide (122 metres by 30.5m) -- especially when compared with Christopher Columbus' Santa Maria, which was about 70 feet long. For centuries, people have also migrated and traded between the two regions.
What then are the channels of cooperation between the two regions, at least in the legal field? One entry point has been the Asian African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO), dating back to the 1950s. It is a forum of some 50 countries from the two regions and it deals with the progressive development of international law, namely, the law among nations which regulates the conduct between states and between states and other stakeholders.
