Role of Sub-Regional Organizations in the Promotion and Protection of Foreign Investment in Africa

The paper aims in the first place at discussing the role of African sub-regional organizations in the promotion and protection of foreign investment. Whereas these organizations have already made important achievements, however heterogeneous, the potential for further developments is remarkable for two main reasons. On the one hand, the current network of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) concluded amongst African States, and between African States and third States remains fragmentary. On the other hand, there is a strong belief that a sub-regional – and in due time a pan African – approach, coupled with the progressive harmonization of domestic policies, will maximise the positive impact of foreign investment. Taking into account the peculiar features of the continent, the paper examines the role African sub-regional organizations have played and may be expected to play in the promotion and protection of foreign investment. It first briefly describes the relation between trade and investment from the standpoint of African economic integration and sketches the current framework of investment treaty in the continent. It then focuses on how African sub-regional organisations have responded to the main concerns raised in the last years in relation to foreign investment and the settlement of the related disputes, namely the unbalanced character of the rights and obligations contained in investment treaties, the lack of transparency and public scrutiny, the inadequate safeguards for the police space of the host State, and the unsatisfactory mechanisms for the settlement of investment disputes.