Oded Besserglik v Mozambique: Lessons for Improving Investor-State Dispute Settlement in Africa
Published 27 June 2022
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 the resolution of this intra-African investment dispute. These are African courts and tribunals, African State litigants and African counsels. It also examines how these lessons can inform current debates about the future of investment dispute settlement mechanisms in Africa. It argues that an improved investment dispute settlement system in Africa requires legal stability, legal expertise and legal ethics.
This paper will be part of the second TDM Special Issue on "The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)". More information here www.transnational-dispute-management.com/news.asp?key=1809