Introduction

The International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) was created at a time when most African countries had just gained independence and foreign investment required a more legitimate protection in the former colonies. The ICSID Convention, which set up the Center, came into force on October 14, 1966 when the twentieth instrument of ratification was deposited with the Secretariat of the United Nations. Significantly, fifteen of the original deposits of the ratification instruments came from African states. Naturally, the very first respondent state in ICSID ...