Nigeria – Investment Treaty News

Corruption and confidentiality in contract-based ISDS: The case of P&ID v Nigeria

This article examines a contract-based dispute, P&ID v. Nigeria, which highlights issues of corruption and lack of transparency in this type of dispute settlement. It concludes that, given the significant public interests at stake in investor–state arbitration, including the possibility that arbitration may facilitate the corrupt transfer of public funds to private actors, they should not be conducted in private.

ICSID tribunal dismisses claims of Interocean Oil Development Company and Interocean Oil Exploration Company against Nigeria while upholding its jurisdiction to hear the claims solely based on Nigeria’s domestic investment statute

Interocean Oil Development Company and Interocean Oil Exploration Company v. Federal Republic of Nigeria, ICSID Case No. ARB/13/20

Agreement to create the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) signed in Rwanda

On March 21, 2018, 44 of the 55 African Union member states gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, signed the AfCFTA with a view to creating a single market in the continent.

The 2016 Morocco–Nigeria BIT: An Important Contribution to the Reform of Investment Treaties

Two African developing countries respond to criticisms against the investment regime. The innovative treaty offers protection to foreign investors without compromising on the host state’s capacity to regulate in the public interest.