The Nigerian modelling industry has never been more internationally connected. Models scouted in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and increasingly in other African cities are being placed with booking agencies in Paris, Milan, London, and New York at a pace that would have been difficult to anticipate even five years ago. Nigerian mother agencies are investing in this pipeline, funding development, building international relationships, and positioning their talent in a global market.
The legal infrastructure supporting this activity has not kept pace with its growth. The contracts being used by most Nigerian mother agencies were designed for a domestic or at most a regional market. They do not address, or address inadequately, the specific legal challenges that arise when a model placed by a Nigerian agency is earning money in Europe, subject to the laws of multiple jurisdictions, represented by a foreign booking agency, and potentially in dispute with a mother agency whose only legal remedy runs through the High Court of Lagos State.
This article examines the principal legal issues that arise for Nigerian mother agencies in the international placement context and provides practical guidance on how they should be addressed in the contract.
GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION
Every contract should specify which country’s law governs it and which courts have jurisdiction to resolve disputes. For a Nigerian mother agency, the natural and appropriate choice is Nigerian law and the High Court of Lagos State. This is the law the agency operates under, the jurisdiction where its business is based, and the forum where its lawyers practice.
The challenge arises at the point of enforcement. A Nigerian court judgment obtained against a model who is resident in France and earning in Euros must be recognised and enforced by a French court before it can be executed against assets or income in France. Nigeria and France do not have a bilateral treaty on the mutual enforcement of judgments. Recognition is therefore at the discretion of the French court, which will apply its own rules on the enforceability of foreign judgments. This is not impossible but it is expensive, slow, and uncertain.
The practical implication is that the governing law and jurisdiction clause does not fully resolve the enforcement problem. What it does is establish the legal framework within which any dispute will be analysed and provide a clear basis for proceedings in Nigeria. For a mother agency whose primary assets and operations are in Nigeria and whose dispute is with a model who has Nigerian connections, Nigerian jurisdiction is appropriate and enforceable domestically. For a dispute where the primary recovery target is income sitting in a European bank account, additional enforcement strategy is required beyond what the contract clause can provide.
One partial solution is international arbitration. An arbitral award made under the rules of an internationally recognised arbitration institution, such as the London Court of International Arbitration or the International Chamber of Commerce, can be enforced in over one hundred and sixty countries that are party to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, including France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and most major fashion markets. Nigeria is a party to the New York Convention. A Nigerian mother agency that includes an international arbitration clause in its model agreements has a significantly stronger cross-border enforcement position than one that relies solely on Nigerian court jurisdiction. The trade-off is cost and complexity, which may be disproportionate for a single model agreement but is worth considering for agreements with significant commercial value.
CURRENCY AND FOREIGN EXCHANGE
International modelling income is almost universally denominated in USD, GBP, or EUR. A model placed with a European agency will be paid in Euros. Their mother agency’s commission, if it is expressed in Naira in the contract, will be subject to the prevailing exchange rate at the time of remittance, which in Nigeria’s current monetary environment introduces significant and unpredictable volatility into what should be a straightforward commercial calculation.
A properly drafted mother agency agreement for international placements should address currency in three places. The agency fee should be expressed as a percentage of the model’s Gross Income in the currency in which that income is received, not converted to Naira before the percentage is applied. Where a scouting fee applies, it should be denominated in USD or GBP, as applicable to the currency in which the majority of the verified development costs were incurred, with conversion to Naira at the prevailing CBN NAFEM rate on the date the fee becomes due. And the payment clause should specify the currency in which remittances from the agency to the model will be made and the exchange rate mechanism that will apply where conversion is necessary.
Failing to address currency in the contract does not make the issue go away. It creates a dispute waiting to happen, where the agency and the model are applying different assumptions about exchange rates, conversion dates, and which currency should govern each element of the financial relationship.
THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKING AGENCY RELATIONSHIP
The relationship between a Nigerian mother agency and an international booking agency is one of the most legally complex and least formally documented aspects of the international placement structure. In practice, this relationship is often governed by nothing more than a handshake understanding, an email exchange, or at best an informal co-representation arrangement whose terms are vague on the key commercial points.
The relationship between a Nigerian mother agency and an international booking agency is often the least formally documented and the most commercially significant.
When a Nigerian mother agency places a model with an international booking agency, the critical questions that should be addressed in a formal co-representation or sub-agency agreement include: what commission split applies between the two agencies; how the model’s income will flow and which agency will receive direct payment from clients; what happens to the Nigerian agency’s commission if the model terminates the mother agency agreement; what notice must be given before the co-representation arrangement ends; and what obligations, if any, the international agency assumes in relation to the model’s welfare and working conditions.
Without a formal agreement addressing these questions, the Nigerian mother agency is entirely dependent on the good faith of the international booking agency. Good faith is not a legal remedy. When the international agency decides to consolidate its commission position by encouraging the model to terminate the Nigerian agency, the absence of a formal co-representation agreement means there is nothing the Nigerian agency can point to as the basis for a claim against the international agency.
IMMIGRATION AND WORK PERMITS
A Nigerian model traveling to work in Europe, the United States, or the United Kingdom requires the appropriate visa and work authorisation for the jurisdiction in question. The responsibility for ensuring compliance with immigration requirements sits, as a matter of law, with the model. But as a matter of practical commercial reality, it also sits with the agency, because a model who arrives at a shoot without the right to work in the country loses the booking, and the agency loses both the commission and potentially its relationship with the client.
The mother agency contract should include a representation and warranty from the model that they hold all necessary visas, permits, and authorisations required to work in any jurisdiction where they accept a booking. This shifts the legal liability for immigration non-compliance onto the model and creates a contractual basis for the agency to recover its losses if a booking is lost as a result of the model’s failure to obtain the right documentation.
Beyond the contractual provision, the agency should implement a pre-travel verification process as an operational matter. Confirming that the model has the appropriate documentation before a booking is accepted in a foreign jurisdiction is the most reliable way to prevent the commission and reputational loss that follows from a model being turned away at the border or refused work authorisation on arrival.
MODEL WELFARE IN INTERNATIONAL PLACEMENTS
A model who is placed internationally is in a uniquely vulnerable position. They are in a foreign country, often for the first time, in an environment where they may not speak the local language, dependent on the international booking agency for accommodation and work, and at a significant distance from the mother agency that has been their primary professional relationship. The conditions that make international placement commercially exciting are the same conditions that create welfare risks.
The mother agency contract should address welfare obligations in the international placement context specifically. The agency should commit to maintaining contact with the model during international placements, to responding promptly to welfare concerns raised by the model, and to taking reasonable steps to address those concerns with the international booking agency where the conduct of that agency or its clients is the source of the problem. The contract should also provide the model with a clear and confidential channel for reporting welfare concerns without fear of professional consequence.
These provisions do not eliminate the welfare risks of international placement. But they create a framework of accountability and a contractual basis for the mother agency to act when action is required. An agency that has no welfare obligations in its contract has no legal basis to intervene when a model calls from Milan at midnight with a problem.
CONCLUSION
The internationalisation of the Nigerian modelling industry is an opportunity and a legal challenge simultaneously. The opportunity is significant: Nigerian talent is in demand globally, and the agencies that have invested in developing and placing that talent stand to benefit commercially from an international pipeline that is growing. The legal challenge is equally significant: the contracts and legal infrastructure that support domestic representation are not adequate for the cross-border realities of international placement.
Addressing the gaps described in this article, governing law and cross-border enforcement, currency and foreign exchange, the formal documentation of the international booking agency relationship, immigration compliance, and model welfare in international contexts, is not a bureaucratic exercise. It is the foundation on which a Nigerian mother agency can operate internationally with confidence, protect its commercial interests across jurisdictions, and build the kind of professional reputation that attracts talent, international partners, and clients who take the agency seriously as a global operator.
How We Can Help
Whether you are seeking early stage grant or incubator support, structuring a loan facility, preparing your business for development finance or institutional investment, or negotiating investor terms for the first time, obtaining the right legal guidance early can help you avoid costly issues later in your fundraising journey.
At Cardinal Counsel, we advise Nigerian fashion founders, brands, and investors across the full business lifecycle, from company formation and intellectual property protection to fundraising readiness, loan and investment agreement review, and governance structuring as businesses scale.
Contact us today at info@cardinalcounsel.co to discuss the funding options available to your business.