Incorporating sustainable development principles in Africa’s investment treaty-making

dc.contributor.authorQumba, Mmiselo Freedom
dc.date.accessioned2025-05-19T06:12:14Z
dc.date.issued2024-12
dc.description.abstractAfrican states have long been critical of the international investment law regime, believing that international investment agreements (IIA) are misaligned with their sustainable development efforts. As a result, they have crafted modern IIAs to address the legitimacy crisis within the investment law regime. Despite improvements in Africa’s new, modern IIAs, some countries continue to conclude bilateral investment treaties (BITs) framed in line with older-generation agreements. An overview of the recent trends in treaty drafting shows that African countries have embraced IIAs as important tools for sustainable development. This article revisits the International Law Association ‘New Delhi Declaration of Principles of International Law’ to formulate concrete legal solutions not only as binding legal principles for investors within the African continent but also as incentive to improve sustainability through self-monitoring rather than international or domestic enforcement. This underscores the importance for treaty interpreters and drafters to carefully recognise the integration and application of a sustainable development framework. Accordingly, the article integrates lessons from African experiences and articulates the sustainable development-oriented principles and concepts that should be considered by policy makers and treaty drafters when developing new model BITs or renegotiating the old generation IIAs.
dc.description.departmentMercantile Law
dc.description.embargo2025-06-01
dc.description.librarianhj2025
dc.description.sdgSDG-17: Partnerships for the goals
dc.description.sdgSDG-16: Peace,justice and strong institutions
dc.description.urihttps://journals.co.za/content/journal/jlc_jcla
dc.identifier.citationQumba, M.F. 2024, 'Incorporating sustainable development principles in Africa’s investment treaty-making', Journal of Comparative Law in Africa, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 43-79, doi : 10.47348/JCLA/v11/i2a2.
dc.identifier.issn2311-6889
dc.identifier.other10.47348/JCLA/v11/i2a2
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/102425
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherJuta Law Journals
dc.rights© Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd.
dc.subjectSustainable development
dc.subjectAfricanisation
dc.subjectNew Delhi declaration principles
dc.subjectInternational investment law
dc.subjectBilateral investment treaties (BITs)
dc.subjectAfrican investment treaties
dc.subjectInternational investment agreements (IIA)
dc.titleIncorporating sustainable development principles in Africa’s investment treaty-making
dc.typeArticle

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