Abstract

The shift from globalisation to economic regionalisation marks a significant transformation in the world's economic landscape. Globalisation, once hailed as the primary force driving interconnectedness among nations, is undergoing a shift towards regionalisation, driven by a myriad of factors. Despite deglobalisation, the volume of foreign trade between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the African Union (AU) countries increased by 60% during 2015-2022 and amounted to nearly USD 22 billion. Exports from the EAEU to AU markets increased by 74%, and imports to the EAEU from the AU by 15.5% during the same period. It is a common understanding that trade between the countries of the two unions will increase in the future. Given the growing trade between the AU and EAEU, the prospects of direct investment hold significant potential for both regions. Investment protection mechanisms can help foster diverse investment portfolios by encouraging businesses from both regions to explore opportunities. This can lead to economic diversification and reduce reliance on specific sectors or markets. By ensuring property rights, dispute resolution, and fair treatment, they reduce the perceived risk of investing in both regions, attracting more capital from both regions. As the intra-regional investment protection frameworks in the EAEU and the AU have created homogenous investment protection regimes in each block respectively, a similar approach could be employed for the EAEU-AU investment framework. The EAEU-AU foreign investments treaty can provide the same level of investment protection across all member states of the unions and could potentially lead to increased investment flows, improved economic cooperation, and enhanced trade relations.

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