Revue - Les Cahiers de l'Arbitrage N°2 - 2023 - 40

AFRICA SPECIAL ISSUE
investment flows to Africa reached a record US$83 billion in 2021. 3
It goes without
saying that where investments go, disputes are bound to follow.
According to research conducted by the Transnational Institute, a nongovernmental
think tank, in the six years preceding its publication in 2019, African
governments received more investor claims than the total combined number for
the previous 20 years, 4
claims brought against African governments until January 2019 to 106. 5
bringing the total number of known investment treaty
In fact, by
January 2019, 28 out of the 55 African States had been sued by investors before
international arbitral tribunals, although cases against Algeria, Egypt and Libya
account for nearly 50% of the total number. 6
Arbitration is an accepted dispute resolution mechanism on the African
continent - a study from March 2020 lists about 89 arbitration centres across
Africa. 7
African Arbitral Centres and Seats, 8
According to the 2020 Arbitration In Africa Survey Report - Top
the top five
arbitral centres in Africa
based on the number of arbitration cases administered and the memorandums
of understanding ( " MoUs " ) concluded with other arbitration centres are the
Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa ( " AFSA " ); Cairo Regional Centre for
International Commercial Arbitration ( " CRCICA " ); Ouagadougou Arbitration
and Mediation & Conciliation Centre ( " OAMCC " ); OHADA Common Court of
Justice and Arbitration Centre ( " CCJA " ); and the Kigali International Arbitration
Centre ( " KIAC " ).
A review of the available caseloads of two of these centres shows that between
December 2017 (when South Africa enacted its International Arbitration Act) 9
to
February 2022, the number of matters referred to AFSA for resolution had grown
to 120 with parties from 43 countries. 10
CRCICA reports having administered a
total of 1385 cases at the end of 2019, including 82 new cases in 2019 alone. 11
Further interrogation of the survey results however suggests that to the extent that
these arbitral institutions have active caseloads, it is likely that most of them handle
3. See, " Investment flows to Africa reached a record $83 billion in 2021 " , UNCTAD, 9 June 2022
(https://unctad.org/news/investment-flows-africa-reached-record-83-billion-2021).
4. See, " ISDS in Numbers: Impacts of Investment Arbitration against African States " , 8 October
2019, pp. 1-3, 9 (https://www.tni.org/files/publication-downloads/isds_africa_web.pdf).
5. Post January 2019, 33 known cases have been registered by ICSID against African States
bringing the total number to 139 until 31 December 2022. See, ICSID Case Database (https://icsid.
worldbank.org/cases/case-database).
6. Ibid. p. 4.
7. See, " Updated List of African Arbitration Centres/Institutions " , 20 March 2020 (https://afasglobal.org/files/List%20of%20Known%20Arbitration%20Institutions%20in%20Africa.pdf)
8.
See, " 2020 Arbitration in Africa Survey Report - Top African Arbitral Centres and Seats " ,
30 June 2020 (https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/33162/1/2020%20Arbitration%20in%20Africa%20Survey%20
Report%2030.06.2020.pdf).
9. See, " International Arbitration Act (Act No. 15 of 2017), Republic of South Africa " ,
20 December 2017 (https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201712/41347internationa
larbitrationact15of2017.pdf).
10. See, " AFSA @ Work, the official newsletter of the Arbitration Foundation of Southern
Africa " , October-November 2022, p. 9 (https://arbitration.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/AFSANewletter_OCT-NOV-2022.pdf).
11.
See, " Institutional Arbitration in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges " , White & Case
Insight, 17 September 2020 (https://www.whitecase.com/insight-our-thinking/institutional-arbitrationafrica-opportunities-and-challenges);
See, " Cairo centre unveils case figures and new advisers " ,
Global Arbitration Review, 15 May 2020 (https://globalarbitrationreview.com/article/1226853/cairocentre-unveils-case-figures-and-new-advisers).
314
The
Paris Journal of International Arbitration 2023‑2

https://unctad.org/news/investment-flows-africa-reached-record-83-billion-2021 https://www.tni.org/files/publication-downloads/isds_africa_web.pdf https://icsid.worldbank.org/cases/case-database https://icsid.worldbank.org/cases/case-database https://afas-global.org/files/List%20of%20Known%20Arbitration%20Institutions%20in%20Africa.pdf https://afas-global.org/files/List%20of%20Known%20Arbitration%20Institutions%20in%20Africa.pdf https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/33162/1/2020%20Arbitration%20in%20Africa%20Survey%20Report%2030.06.2020.pdf https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/33162/1/2020%20Arbitration%20in%20Africa%20Survey%20Report%2030.06.2020.pdf https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201712/41347internationalarbitrationact15of2017.pdf https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201712/41347internationalarbitrationact15of2017.pdf https://arbitration.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/AFSA-Newletter_OCT-NOV-2022.pdf https://arbitration.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/AFSA-Newletter_OCT-NOV-2022.pdf https://www.whitecase.com/insight-our-thinking/institutional-arbitration-africa-opportunities-and-challenges https://www.whitecase.com/insight-our-thinking/institutional-arbitration-africa-opportunities-and-challenges https://globalarbitrationreview.com/article/1226853/cairo-centre-unveils-case-figures-and-new-advisers https://globalarbitrationreview.com/article/1226853/cairo-centre-unveils-case-figures-and-new-advisers

Revue - Les Cahiers de l'Arbitrage N°2 - 2023

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