2024 in Review, AfCFTA, Africa, Arbitral seat

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2024 marked a period of several significant developments and witnessed some “firsts” for the African arbitration community. Notwithstanding the constantly changing political climate and policies in different countries across the continent, the continued growth of arbitration in Africa remains relentless with exciting events and collaborations as well as judicial, legislative and institutional developments. These events…

Africa, Climate change, Dispute Resolution, Energy, LCIA, Uncategorized

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The global fight against climate change demands a swift transition to cleaner energy sources. Underscoring this urgency, the 28th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (also known as the “Paris Agreement”) (“COP 28“), held in Dubai in November 2023, called for ambitious goals. At this conference, nearly 200…

2023 in Review, AfCFTA, Africa, Bribery, Egypt, Nigeria, Nigeria Arbitration and Mediation Act

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2023 stands out as a pivotal year marked by substantial advancements in arbitration across the African continent. Despite global challenges such as the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and projections of a slow recovery in Foreign Direct Investment (“FDI”) in the continent, African practitioners have demonstrated unwavering resilience and commitment to propelling the field…

Africa, Arbitration, Interviews with Our Editors, South Africa

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Svetlana Vasileva-Stratenwerth is the Secretary General of the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA) International. She manages the AFSA International Secretariat, where she oversees the administration of international arbitrations. Her professional journey spans over two decades, specialising in international trade, investment, and commercial disputes. She is passionate about championing alternative dispute resolution across Africa and…

Applicable Law, Civil Law, Common Law, Iura Novit Curia

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An arbitrator’s authority to rely on a law that was not pleaded by the parties has been the subject of extensive discussions in the literature. Anecdotal evidence suggests that civil law jurisdictions broadly tend to adopt a more liberal approach to recognizing such authority in international arbitration, while common law jurisdictions, on the other hand,…

Africa, China, Infrastructure, Investment, Seat of the arbitration

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On 12 March 2021, Fangda Partners, ASAFO & CO and Delos Dispute Resolution hosted an interactive roundtable on “The Often-Overlooked Value of African Seats for African-Chinese Disputes”. The panelists for the roundtable discussion were Tunde Fagbohunlu SAN , Julia (Zhang) Le Roux, Michael Tam, Olga Boltenko and Peter Po Kwong Yuen, and it was moderated…

AfCFTA, AfCFTA Investment Protocol, Africa, ICSID, Investor-State arbitration

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Cases involving African parties contribute to a significant number of International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) cases. Indeed, 15% of ICSID cases involve parties from sub-Saharan Africa and 18% of ICSID cases involve parties from Middle East and North Africa. The UNCTAD database of Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) cases records 145…