Abstract

African states adopted the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area to promote investment and trade within Africa. This agreement includes several protocols and aims to bolster foreign investment in Africa without compromising African states' need to implement necessary national policies and achieve their sustainable development goals. One of those protocols deals with investment and calls for adopting a special annex on resolving investment disputes between investors and host states. While this annex has yet to be finalised, an initial draft is already available for review. This article analyses the investment protocol's provisions in light of other recent initiatives regarding investment management in Africa. It then addresses practical considerations regarding the protocol's implementation in view of the investment protection regimes already in place in many African states. Finally, the article discusses provisions of the initial draft of the annex on the settlement of investment disputes and highlights inconsistencies between this draft and some of Africa's laws and policies regarding the settlement of investment disputes.

This paper will be part of the third TDM Special Issue on "The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)". More information here www.transnational-dispute-management.com/news.asp?key=1809