Johannesburg-based Partner Peter Leon, Associate Ernst Muller and Candidate Attorney Natasha Rachwal have recently authored an article discussing the ongoing negotiations for the African Continental Free Trade Area’s (“AfCFTA”) protocol on investment. The article considers the opportunity for AfCFTA drafters to establish an investment regime that supports modern investment policies and sustainable development. The article … Read more

The Republic of Djibouti is the latest country to become a signatory to the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (the ICSID Convention).  Djibouti’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh, signed the ICSID Convention on 12 April 2019.  Djibouti must now ratify the ICSID Convention … Read more

In a recent investment arbitration Award, in Cortec Mining v Kenya, an ICSID tribunal has declined jurisdiction over a claim brought by a trio of mining companies on the basis that the mining licences at issue had not been obtained lawfully due to the Claimants’ failure to obtain the required environmental impact assessments. In its … Read more

The last few months have seen significant changes to mining regulations in various African states, giving rise to a concern that a regional trend of resource nationalism may be (re-)emerging. In this context it is important for companies associated with the mining sector to be aware of the protection international investment treaties may provide against … Read more

On 23 September 2017, a Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) delivered its judgment on the longstanding maritime boundary dispute between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. The Special Chamber reconfirmed the relevance of the equidistance methodology in determining the maritime boundary between the two States. The judgment also touches … Read more

On 3 December 2016, Morocco and Nigeria signed a new bilateral investment treaty (the "BIT"), with the overarching aim of strengthening "the bonds of friendship and cooperation" between the two States.  The BIT (available here) is yet to be ratified and to enter into force.  The BIT takes an interesting and in some ways innovative … Read more

South Africa’s draft regulations for investor-state mediation require refinement to work effectively with international arbitration. Interested parties have until 28 February 2017 to comment on draft Regulations on Mediation Rules (Regulations) published by South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on 30 December 2016, under the Protection of Investment Act, 2015 (Act). Read more

On 10 June 2016 the EU signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the Southern Africa Development Community EPA Group comprising Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland (the SADC EPA). On 10 October 2016 that agreement entered into effect between the EU and five of those countries: with Mozambique in the process of … Read more