This archive report was first published on 28 October 2019.
On October 28, 2019, African countries were urged to review and terminate all existing bilateral investment treaties, avoid signing new ones, and remove themselves from the international investment arbitration system.
The growing number of legal suits brought by multinational companies against Tanzania and other African countries has raised major concerns, according to Nicomedes Kajungu, secretary general of the National Union of Mines and Energy Workers of Tanzania (Numet).
Mr. Kajungu stated that most of these suits stem from bilateral investment treaties (BITs) signed between countries over the past three decades. Tanzania, along with other African countries, has signed 568 BITs and free trade agreements (FTAs) with investment provisions, mainly with countries outside Africa.
Mr. Kajungu dismissed claims that BITs guarantee greater foreign direct investment inflows into a country, citing Brazil as an example. Despite not having a single BIT in force, Brazil has registered huge FDI flows.
Numet is calling for an overhaul of the country's 1997 Investment Act following a recent order against the government by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Earlier this month, ICSID ordered Tanzania to pay $185 million to the Hong Kong subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank for breaching an energy contract.
