ISDS Case Map
SADC
Southern Africa Development Cooperation
The slow pace at which member states of the Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement (TFTA) are committing to the bloc, has derailed the enforcement of the treaty and trade in one of Africa’s largest economic zones.
The Southern African Customs Union, Mozambique and the European Union have started talks to conclude a new economic partnership agreement with post-Brexit Britain.
The TFTA seeks to establish an enlarged market involving 27 member countries from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the East African Community and Southern African Development Community.
The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) became the first regional EPA in Africa to be fully operational after its implementation by Mozambique.
Botswana signed a tripartite free trade area agreement which marked a milestone in the trade agenda of the African Union.
The Protection of Investment Act affords foreign investors no protections beyond domestic law, and pointedly disavows investor-state international arbitration. The SADC Protocol was also amended by the SADC Summit of heads of state and government.
So-called SPS – Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary – issues identified as the main culprit. "Sometimes ostensible SPS issues were in fact disguised trade protectionism," said South Africa Trade Minister.
Namibia is not ready to engage in the proposed African Continent Free Trade Area (CFTA), said the stakeholders present at the national level consultation on the initiative.
The Singapore High Court has set aside an investor-state arbitral award on the merits against the Kingdom of Lesotho. The case is an important one, as it concerns whether investors can use arbitration to resolve cases that were pending before the SADC Tribunal when it was dissolved by the SADC Summit in 2014.
The Ugandan Cabinet has approved the ratification of the EAC-COMESA-SADC Tripartite Free Area Agreement (FTA), paving way for the implementation of the Agreement.
