Abhatoo - Centre Nationale de Documentation

This study focuses on re-thinking bilateral investment treaties in Nigeria : the Morocco-Nigeria BIT in view. Two countries, Morocco and Nigeria, signing BITs commit themselves to several specific standards on the treatment of foreign investments within their jurisdiction. If there is a breach of such commitments, BITs provide expansive procedures for the resolution of disputes. By and large, the substantive provisions of BITs are similar to rethinking bilateral investment treaties : critical issues and policy choices across countries, but there can be important differences between treaties in different jurisdictions. In the absence of a comprehensive multilateral agreement on investment, cross-border investment flows are currently governed by bilateral and regional investment treaties along with investment chapters in FTAs. It is fair to say that BITs have emerged as the primary source of international investment law to protect and promote cross-border investment flows.
The current FDI climate as well as the evolution of BITs in Nigeria were discussed with respect to the national and international frameworks concerning FDI and IR within which Nigeria operates. This study analyses the Cooperation and Facilitation Investment Agreement (CFIA) of Brazil alongside the evolution of BITs leading up to the CFIA in Brazil.
The thesis was able to establish that the Morocco-Nigeria BIT has made some advances in the BIT environment of Nigeria and Africa, with indication that there is need for improvement in the balance between interests of the host state and the foreign investors. BITs like any other treaties, are simply instruments at the disposal of the contracting parties to legally protect their respective interests. Morocco and Nigeria have shown confidence that such an instrument can offer investors solid protection without compromising on the host State’s rights or on social values. This BIT contains several innovative provisions that recalibrate the legal protection of the interests of all stakeholders and can be expected to enhance the chances for economically, socially and environmentally sustainable investments. Using the traditional model of BITs as a backdrop, Nigeria has certainly taken progressive steps in the Morocco-Nigeria BIT. As found in the study, the Morocco–Nigeria BIT, sends a clear signal to the rest of the world that African countries have begun to embrace the new generation of investment treaties and, therefore, are ready to charter a new course in their reform of the international investment regime. Both Morocco and Nigeria have produced an instrument that can safeguard investors’ interests without compromising on national regulatory space or social values and it is expected to enhance economic, social and environmental sustainability.