Africa

African states are party to over a thousand investment agreements, the vast majority of which have been signed with non-African countries.

In 2006, Members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) (Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland) signed the SADC Finance and Investment Protocol that also includes the ISDS mechanism. Only two claims have been registered under these terms, both against Lesotho (but the governments in the region do not typically disclose such information). In 2016 amendments to the protocol were adopted. They eliminated ISDS provisions (only state-to-state arbitration remained) and narrowed the scope of investors’ rights.

In South Africa, shortly after settling a dispute with foreign mining companies over its new post-apartheid mining rules (Piero Foresti & Others case), the government began to withdraw from bilateral investment treaties (BIT) that include ISDS, arguing they belonged to a bygone era. It claimed BITs focus on the interests of investors from developed countries and do not address concerns of developing countries.

The South African government decided to develop a new model BIT and strengthen its domestic legislation in regard to the protection offered to foreign investors, such as compatibility of BIT-type protection with South African law. South Africa also sought to incorporate legitimate exceptions to investor protection where warranted by public interest considerations.

Provisions of South Africa’s new model BIT have been incorporated into SADC’s. This model sets out provisions that mitigate the risks of earlier treaties and leaves open the option for state-to-state dispute settlement in addition to investor-state dispute settlement procedures.

In 2014, voices from the Namibian government cast doubts on the correlation between foreign direct investment and investment treaties including ISDS. They argued that ISDS represented a risk for developing countries, due to important legal fees and awards which can pose a significant budgetary threat. Further, statistics show most claimants come from developed countries.

About 11% of all arbitration disputes have involved African states.

In 2013, an arbitration court ordered Libya to pay US$935 million in a dispute over a land-leasing contract for a tourism project, making it one of the largest known awards to date.

Egypt has been the fifth most targeted state worldwide with 34 registered ISDS cases against it. Tanzania has been the most targeted country in sub-Sahara Africa with six disputes, all of which were initiated by European investors.

Photo: Hansueli Krapf / CC BY-SA 3.0

(April 2020)

IISD | 16-Aug-2018
Despite challenges, the experiences of South Africa and Brazil demonstrate that there is room for genuine reimagination of the investment regime, where the interests of investors are matched with the development concerns of host countries.
Eco Actu | 8-Aug-2018
Le conseil de la commune de Casablanca avait constaté des manquements graves en matière de gestion de la décharge dont les conséquences environnementales et sanitaires sont drastiques.
Africa is a country | 4-Aug-2018
Zimbabwe is still seeking to have annulled two Awards issued by a tribunal of the ICSID. The disputes concern the government’s expropriation of timber plantations which were first established by Rhodes’ BSAC.
Expropriate | 4-Aug-2018
On 29 July 1918, the British judiciary proffered the Empire’s most expressly and egregiously racist justification for the land dispossession of indigenous peoples. Today, an ICSID tribunal continues that mission. No matter which way Zimbabwean’s turn at the polls, they’re still paying for their invasion and occupation by Cecil Rhodes’ British South Africa company...
FTDES | 1-Aug-2018
Dans le cadre des négociations de l’ALECA, l’Union Européenne a proposé à la Tunisie de mettre en place un mécanisme d’arbitrage entre investisseurs et Etat, sous l’appellation « système judiciaire pour l’investissement » (Investment Court System ou ICS en anglais). Nous interpellons la société civile et les pouvoirs publics pour qu’il soit catégoriquement refusé.
East African | 30-Jul-2018
Civil society organisations are pushing for a review of the BIT between Tanzania and The Netherlands which they say does not serve the best interests of Tanzania.
Medias24 | 26-Jul-2018
A travers ses sociétés mères, l’ancien gestionnaire délégué de la décharge de Médiouna menace de poursuivre le Maroc devant le CIRDI et lui réclame 75 millions de dollars de dédommagement.
The East African | 16-Jul-2018
Rwanda faces an international arbitration suit filed by two American firms contesting the cancellation of their mining concession.
Both Ends | 20-Jun-2018
Both ENDS a envoyé une lettre, signée par différentes organisations de la société civile, à la Ministre néerlandaise du commerce et du développement, l’incitant à terminer le traité bilatéral d’investissement entre les Pays Bas et Burkina Faso.
Both Ends | 20-Jun-2018
Both ENDS sent a letter, signed by various civil society organisations, to the Dutch Minister of Aid & Trade to urge her to terminate the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) that exists between the Netherlands and Burkina Faso.