International Investment Law

Investment for Sustainable Development: Opportunities and Challenges for the African Continental Free Trade Area Investment Protocol

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aims to achieve the expansion of intra- African trade through the harmonisation and coordination of trade liberalisation and facilitation across Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Africa in general and "enhance competitiveness at the industry and enterprise level through exploiting opportunities for scale production, continental market access and better reallocation of resources". Negotiations for the Phase II Protocols of the AfCFTA are ongoing. Of particular importance to this paper will be the Protocol on Investment which is currently under negotiation. This paper will focus on how the Investment Protocol can contribute to promoting sustainable development on the African continent.

Locating Fragmentation in the 'Africanization' of International Investment Law

Contemporary scholarship on international investment law (IIL) in Africa has emphasised the 'Africanization' of IIL. This article argues that the presence of a cross-cutting policy vision in the Africanization of IIL should not be viewed as its conceptual sine qua non but as a significant challenge to its end goals.

AfCFTA Investment Protocol Negotiations and the Case of Namibia: A Call for Regional Regulatory Harmonization vis-à-vis Investment Policy in Africa

There is a growing tendency among States to defy, terminate and/or replace their international investment agreements with domestic laws as a reclamation of national sovereignty vis-à-vis international institutions. Thus, international investment law and its reform needs to be informed by research into domestic systems of governance in order to conceptualize better how regional and international law principles are implemented alongside and through the use of domestic legal instruments, but also in order to reform policies within the international investment law or national law context

Symposium Introduction: Critical and Contextual Perspectives on International Economic Law: Amplifying the Voices of African Students and Early-Career Researcher

We hope the papers in this symposium will contribute to the ongoing efforts worldwide to achieve epistemological and methodological diversity in the IEL discipline. As a new Forum, we aim to remain flexible, experimental and responsive to the changing landscape in IEL. We will like to take this opportunity to thank the academics who have supported the Academic Forum over the last two years. We hope we can continue to count on your support as we devise robust and practical ways to decolonise and pluralise IEL research, scholarship and practice as a counterpoint to the dominant Western-centric IEL imagination.

Call for Applications: LL.M. in International Trade and Investment Law in Africa

The Master's of Law (LLM) degree in International Trade and Investment Law in Africa is the first of its kind to be offered in Africa. It establishes a higher education and training programme based in and focused on, Africa with full exposure to the international world of trade and investment.

Advanced Introduction Workshop on International Investment Law and Dispute Resolution by the African Institute of International Law and the African Arbitration Association

February 19, 2022

The African Institute of International Law (AIIL) and the African Arbitration Association (AfAA) have partnered to host a three-part online workshop series on international investment law in Africa.

The workshops are targeted at government officials, academics, practitioners, research students, and professionals with an interest in international investment law and dispute resolution. The first workshop will focus on an introduction to international investment law and dispute resolution.

UNCTAD and IIED Webinar: International Investment Agreements and Climate Action

UNCTAD and IIED are organising a webinar on international investment agreements and climate action on 4 February 2022. This event will bring together experts and stakeholders from government, international organisations, civil society and academia to discuss the reform of the international investment agreements (IIAs) regime for climate change goals.