At a webinar on the Arbitration of International Trade and Investment Disputes: Reform vs Rethink, held on 24 February 2021, NIPC's Executive Secretary/CEO, Ms Yewande Sadiku, provided an update on the evolution of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) in Nigeria and the country's efforts to reform its international investment agreement (IIA) regime.
In her presentation, 'The Evolution of Bilateral Investment Treaties in Nigeria,' Ms Sadiku stated that Nigeria's new model BITs include references to sustainable development objectives, the introduction of mediation and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, and the insertion of safeguards to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). 'In principle, no BIT is unbalanced, since the advantages conferred allow investors from each country to invest in the other. However, investments largely flow from capital exporters to capital importers. When provisions in BITs bite, they generally bite capital importers,' she said.
Ms Sadiku confirmed that NIPC is working with members of Nigeria's IIA team to protect Nigeria from potential ISDS risks and to ensure that future investment agreements strike the right balance between investor protection and the government's regulatory flexibility.
