Africa

AfCFTA, AfCFTA Investment Protocol, Africa, Amicus Curiae, Cultural heritage, India, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS

(Africa Arbitration Academy )/ /5 Comments

Many will recall the historic ruling of Justice Neil Gorsuch in McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020), where the United States Supreme Court upheld an 1866 treaty between the United States and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, which established the Muscogee Nation’s geographic borders. The Court decided that much of current Eastern Oklahoma is to remain Indian land…

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…

AfCFTA, AfCFTA Investment Protocol, Africa, Intra-African BITs, Investment law

(University Cadi Ayyad)/ /Leave a comment

As Phase II negotiations of the African Continental Free Trade Area (“AfCFTA”) have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a draft legal text of the AfCFTA Investment Protocol (“Protocol”) has not been submitted to the January 2021 Session of the Assembly, as originally expected.  There are reasons to believe that with the recent start…

Africa, Diversity, ICC, Interviews with Our Editors, ISDS Reform, Working Group III

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Ndanga Kamau is a Vice President of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration and the President of the ICC Africa Commission. She is an international lawyer who specialises in international dispute settlement and international law. She sits as arbitrator and represents clients in international disputes. She also provides consultancy work and…

Africa, Arbitral Award, Arbitration, CCJA Arbitration, Courts

(Martial Akakpo et Associes) and (Universite de Lome)/ /Leave a comment

Since its creation, the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA) has been at the forefront of promoting international arbitration in Africa, particularly with respect to creating a favourable setting for international and regional arbitration under the Uniform Act on Arbitration adopted by the seventeen OHADA Member States. This momentum continued with the recent adoption…

Africa, Domestic Courts, Institutional Arbitration, Kenya

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Welcome to the Kluwer Arbitration Blog, Mr. Ngugi!  We are grateful for this opportunity to learn more about the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration – NCIA, the type of disputes it handles and the way it is facing recent developments, such as the COVID-19 crisis. Please give our readers a brief background of yourself and…

2020 In Review, Africa, Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Commercial Arbitration, New York Convention

(Equanimity Arbitration) and (University of Oxford)/ /Leave a comment

We initiate our traditional Year in review series of 2020 with a retrospective view of the reported developments in the Sub-Saharan Africa. In this post, we aim at giving you a quick look back to some of our most impactful publications in 2020 from this geographical area, with a focus on the commercial arbitration developments…

AfCFTA, Africa, International Investment Law, International Mediation, Investment Arbitration, Investment law, Investor-State arbitration, investor-State arbitration and mediation, ISDS

(Swiss Chamber of Commercial Mediation)/ /2 Comments

Many see the Pan-African Investment Code (PAIC), a model instrument adopted by the African Union (AU) in 2015, as the first step toward the ‘africanization’ of international investment law. While several national and regional instruments on foreign investments had been adopted by African States and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) prior to the PAIC, the latter’s…

AfCFTA, Africa, Investment, Protocol

(United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD)/ /1 Comment

Negotiations on the Investment Protocol of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) are set to start later this year. An AfCFTA Investment Protocol would provide significant opportunities for African countries. However, the negotiations will be complex, taking place amidst a backdrop of existing African international investment agreements (IIAs) already negotiated at the bilateral and…

Africa, Arbitration, Impartiality, Independence, International arbitration, Kenya, Laos, Seat of the arbitration

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The biennial 2020 Arbitration in Africa Survey Report (2020 Survey), which is the second in the series, is focused on top African arbitral centres and seats. It identifies the top and busiest arbitral centres in Africa. The survey was commissioned by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and sponsored by the law firm…

Africa, Arbitration institution, Arbitration Institutions and Rules

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP) and (Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /Leave a comment

On 1 July 2020, the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (“AFSA”), a leading arbitral institution in South Africa, launched its new draft International Arbitration Rules for public comment.  The International Arbitration Rules were launched via a webinar co-hosted by Professor Dr. Maxi Scherer, chairperson of AFSA’s Drafting Committee and Advisory Board, and Patrick Lane SC,…

Africa, Arbitration, COVID-19, Diversity, International arbitration, Social networks, Webinar, Willem C. Vis Moot, Workshop

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“When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.” (John F. Kennedy, Former US President). The current Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc globally impacting people in grievous ways. The resultant containment measures by governments have severely limited or otherwise rendered physical interactions impossible. As…

Africa, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, BIT, Investment Arbitration, Investor duties

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Africa is in the vanguard of investor obligations in international investment law. As it prepares to seek a continental investment code for the second time, it finds itself at a crossroads. In tracing the emergence and trajectory of investment instruments toward the historic juncture to which Africa presently arrives, one glimpses the promise of a…

Africa, Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investment law, Investor-State arbitration

(University Cadi Ayyad)/ /Leave a comment

In less than a decade, the Republic of Côte-d’Ivoire enacted two investment laws (2012 and 2018). The latter one recently amended, reflects the best practices the country has learned from its previous investor-states disputes. On December 18, 2019 the Council of Ministers introduced some amendments to the 2018 Investment Code related inter alia to VAT…

Africa, Arbitration, Virtual hearings

(Africa Arbitration Academy ) and (Zulficar & Partners)/ /1 Comment

Necessity is the golden chord that lies at the base of every innovation and invention. As countries around the world continue to implement different measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and to contain and deal with its ramifications, all stakeholders (including businesses and institutions) are now forced to innovate and make significant changes to the…

Africa, New York Convention, New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, Reciprocity, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, Republic of Seychelles, Switzerland

(Taylor Wessing) and (University of Konstanz, Germany)/ /Leave a comment
YIAG

On 3 February 2020, the Republic of Seychelles became the 162nd Contracting State of the New York Convention (already followed by Palau as number 163, reported here). The New York Convention thus comes into force for the Seychelles today (Article XII(2) New York Convention). The Cabinet and the National Assembly had approved the accession on…

AfCFTA, Africa, Morocco, OHADA

(University Cadi Ayyad)/ /Leave a comment

Since 2014, the Casablanca Arbitration Days (CAD) have no doubt become one of the most attended arbitration-related events in Africa. Organized on 5-6 December 2019 at Kenzi Tower Hotel Casablanca by the Casablanca International Mediation and Arbitration Centre (CIMAC), this year marked the fifth edition of CAD under the topic ‘Investing and Doing Business in…

Africa, BIT, Emerging Market Economies, ISDS, South-South Cooperation

(University of Arkansas School of Law)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction   In a 2015 publication Investment Policies and Bilateral Investment Treaties in Africa: Implications for Regional Integration, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa opined that for countries in Africa: “[o]pportunities for signing BITs with non-African partners have largely been exhausted because new southern partners such as China and India prefer other modalities for…

Africa, LCIA-MIAC, MARC, Mauritius, MIAC

(5 Fifteen Barristers, Mauritius) and (Hogan Lovells, London)/ /Leave a comment

On 12 November 2019, the Mauritius International Arbitration Centre (“MIAC”) hosted an event to celebrate its relaunch following the termination of the institution’s joint venture with the London Court of International Arbitration (“LCIA”) in July 2018. Like many other arbitral centres that have emerged across Africa,1)G. Travaini, ‘Arbitration Centres in Africa: Too Many Cooks?’, Kluwer…

2019 In Review, Africa, Anti-suit injunction, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Nigeria, Tanzania

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2019 has been a busy year for international arbitration in Sub-Saharan Africa. Indeed, the year has brought an interesting wave of precedents, new domestic statutes, modern international investment agreements, and arbitration events. This post highlights and summarises some of the African developments covered in the Blog in 2019, with many thanks to the authors who…

Africa, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment law

(Herbert Smith Freehills) and , / /Leave a comment

Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) is facing significant opposition in its current form. Whilst some parties are engaged to find new common ground, others have unilaterally implemented measures aimed at ousting investor-state arbitration altogether. Over time, more and more attention has been paid to the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and its…

Africa, Arbitral seat, Arbitral Tribunal, Availability of arbitrators, Conference, Dispute Resolution

(Equanimity Arbitration)/ /Leave a comment

This August, Kenya hosted the 7th annual East African International Arbitration (EAIAC) conference. This year’s theme was Government Contracting and Investment Disputes: Lessons for States and Investors. The conference explored the full spectrum of government contracting from procurement and PPPs (public-private partnerships), tender disputes, dispute mitigation in government contracts, investment arbitration and arbitrating with governments…

AfCFTA, Africa, Arbitral seat, Arbitration Agreement, Arbitration Proceedings, Insolvency, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Investor-State arbitration

(Equanimity Arbitration) and (Keating Chambers)/ /Leave a comment

With over $3 billion invested by Vedanta Resources in Zambia since it became a shareholder in Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) in 2004, it is a less optimistic turn of events with Vedanta Resources and fellow shareholder, the government-owned Zambian State Mining Company ZCCM-IH (ZCCM), being at loggerheads in arbitration. In this post, we examine what…

Africa, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, CAMAR

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

“Too many cooks spoil the broth” – this expression works in both personal and professional situations. Everyone can relate to this universal concept that where each of many people involved in a common project adds his or her own idea, it actually makes it very hard, if not impossible, to work efficiently and can even…