Emilia Onyema is an independent arbitrator with experience as presiding, co and sole arbitrator, and acts as legal expert witness in international arbitration. She is a Professor of International Commercial Law at SOAS University of London where she teaches and publishes on international commercial arbitration, international investment law and commercial law in a global context. She is qualified to practice law in Nigeria, as a Solicitor in England & Wales, and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She is listed on several arbitrator panels and sits on several arbitration courts. She convenes the SOAS Arbitration in Africa conference series, leads the SOAS Arbitration in Africa biennial survey research project, co-authored the African Promise; conceived the SOAS counsel in arbitration training project; is the Director of the SOAS Arbitration and Dispute Resolution centre; and the founder of the Arbitration Fund for African Students (AFAS). She actively publishes and speaks on topics relevant to her research interests. Some of her publications include, International Commercial Arbitration and the Arbitrator’s Contract (Routledge, 2010); Rethinking the Role of African National Courts in Arbitration (Kluwer, 2018), “African Participation in the ICSID System: Appointment and Disqualification of Arbitrators”, ICSID Review – Foreign Investment Law Journal (2020), “Reimagining the Framework for resolving Intra-African Commercial Disputes in the Context of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement”, World Trade Review (2019); and “African Practitioners, International Arbitration, and Inclusivity” (ICCA Congress Series No 21, 2022). In2024, she received the CPR Institute award for Outstanding Contribution to Diversity in ADR, and the African Arbitration Association award for Publication/Speech of the Year for her Roebuck Lecture which was also shortlisted for the GAR Best Lecture/Speech Award 2025.