Abstract

The international legal framework for investment in Africa, consisting of over 840 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) of which 155 are intra-African and a myriad of regional agreements, is in need of reform. The provisions included in these investment treaties limit the right of host states to regulate investment; promote investment only indirectly through investment protection; have been drafted on the basis of developed countries' models with little or no modifications (this also holds true for intra-African BITs), and include broad investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms ...