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Abstract

At the core of this dissertation is the argument that Africa seems to be taking the lead in constructing new generation international investment agreements (IIAs) that synergize the conflicting foreign investment, climate action, and sustainable development objectives. Although several investment instruments regulate foreign investment in Africa, the past few years have witnessed significant developments in investment law regulation at the bilateral and regional levels in Africa, described as the “Africanization” of international investment law (IIL). The inquiry underlying my research therefore is: What does the “Africanization” of IIL reveal about the prospects for reformulating international investment law in a way that supports the integrated pursuit of sustainable development, climate action, and foreign investment in the Global South? I draw theoretical insights from Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), and from works of counterhegemonic globalization scholars. To provide an overall framework for my research, I conduct a review of critical IIL literature, along with the literature on hegemony, colonialism, and imperialism. I also conduct extensive interviews of 19 experts comprising international investment lawyers and academics, investment policymakers at the global level, and investment policymakers at the African level. While the interviews principally support my case study presented in Chapter Four of the dissertation, I also elicit information that is relevant to the history and critique of the international investment regime, as well as information that is germane to the counterhegemonic but politically feasible reconstruction of the regime. I argue that the successful integration of sustainable development into IIL can help strengthen climate action in the Global South. To facilitate this integration, I develop a coherent/fairly balanced framework that draws on emerging African initiatives such as the Draft Pan African Investment Code, and the investment protocol of the African Continental Free Trade Area, and shifts international investment regime to focus on elements of sustainable development, and climate action. The originality of my research lies both in its examination of African reform approaches, and its proposal for a fair and coherent framework that integrates IIL, sustainable development, and climate action in the Global South.