Abstract

The Oded Besserglik v Republic of Mozambique award is one of the very few publicly known treaty-based investment arbitration cases involving an African foreign investor and an African country. After five years of proceedings, the arbitral tribunal dismissed all the investor's claims for lack of jurisdiction in 2019, notably because the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), which the claimant invoked, had never entered into force. This paper discusses the lessons that can be grasped from the participation (as well as the non-participation) of the African actors and institutions involved in ...