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Equatorial Guinea ratifies the ICSID Convention

Equatorial Guinea ratifies the ICSID Convention

The Central African country has become the 159th country to join the World Bank’s list of investors and states…

The Central African country has become the 159thHe country that will join the World Bank’s investor-state dispute resolution institution.

Equatorial Guinea has joined the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The organization confirmed that the Central African state had ratified the ICSID convention on July 24, becoming the 159thHe country that is a party to the agreement. The Convention will enter into force in Equatorial Guinea on 23 August this year.

The ICSID Convention was launched in 1966 and provides an institutional and legal framework for the resolution of disputes involving foreign investments, including arbitration, mediation, conciliation and fact-finding.

The organization is one of the five World Bank Group organizations, together with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the International Development Association (IDA). The institutions aim to end extreme poverty and increase prosperity in all countries.

Equatorial Guinea will have representation on the ICSID Administrative Council, and each ICSID member will have one vote for each representative. The representative of each contracting state participates in the approval of the rules of procedure for the cases and in the election of the Secretary General and the Deputy Secretaries General of ICSID, in addition to appointing the arbitrators and conciliators of the ICSID panels.

The country joins the growing number of African jurisdictions that have ratified the ICSID Convention, including Angola in 2021.

In early July, ICSID appointed a new secretary-general for the first time in 15 years, with Martina Polasek subsequent Meg Kinnear.

A recent study found that Central Africa accounted for 21% of ICSID cases involving Africa, with North Africa being the region with the longest history of such disputes.

In recent years, investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) arbitration has generated a backlash, particularly in Africa, where some states have seen it as biased against them and in favour of European, North American and Asian companies. This has led some quarters to debate the possibility of replacing arbitration with mediation or investment tribunals. Nevertheless, the share of ICSID cases arising from the African continent has grown by 7% since 2022.