Special Issue: Africa and the Reform of the International Investment Regime An Introduction

摘要

Investment law is in a state of flux throughout Africa. At the continental level, the African Union - which has just welcomed back a former member Morocco - has recently adopted a new model investment agreement, the Pan-African Investment Code (PAIC).~1 The PAIC is part of the new generation of instruments that embed the regulation of foreign investment in the realm of sustainable development. It also calls for greater balance between the rights and obligations of investors and host states. The PAIC thus inscribes itself into the wind of reform that has been advocated at the universal level by institutions, such as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in particular with its Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development (IPFSD)~2 and, more recently, UNCTAD's Global Action Menu for Investment Facilitation.~3