General Introduction: African States’ Introduction to the International Investment Law System

This chapter examines how post-colonial African states were introduced to the international investment law system including the traditional investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism. It explores African states’ engagement with international investment agreements (IIAs) predominantly contracted based on old European models, including substantive and procedural guarantees now outdated even by European standards. Considering the ongoing reform efforts in UNCITRAL Working Group III focused strictly on procedural reform, which includes the proposal for a Multilateral Investment Court (MIC), this chapter echoes African states’ disapproval of an MIC absent substantive law reform, therefore opening the discussion at the heart of this thesis on how to attract African states’ participation in an MIC.