An African View on the CETA Investment Chapter

Abstract

Investments form a substantial portion of Canada-European Union (EU) economic relations. The CETA’s Investment Chapter is designed to give investors greater certainty, stability, transparency, and protection for their investments, and to secure access for Canadian and European investors to each other’s respective markets. In the course of negotiation of the CETA, Canada and the EU agreed to incorporate certain reform approaches to investment protection and investment dispute resolution provisions. This chapter seeks to discuss and contextualize these approaches from an African perspective by comparing it to the specific and innovative features enshrined in African international investment agreements (IIAs) and model treaties including, inter alia, the Pan-African Investment Code (PAIC). The latter is the first continent-wide African model investment treaty elaborated under the auspices of the African Union (AU).