PROMOTING TRANSFORMATIVE INVESTMENT IN AFRICA THROUGH REGIONAL INTEGRATION

PROMOTING TRANSFORMATIVE INVESTMENT IN AFRICA THROUGH REGIONAL INTEGRATION

Organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in the form of a presentation that will be followed by a moderated panel discussion, the break-out session will launch two UNECA studies, exploring the “Drivers for Boosting Intra-African Investment Flows towards Africa’s Transformation” and the “Linkages between Double Taxation Treaties and Bilateral Investment Treaties”.

Supported by the presentation of the salient findings and key policy recommendations of the two studies, the break-out session will spur deliberations among policy practitioners, experts and other stakeholders on the most appropriate policies to attract productive investment from within the continent and beyond, as well as on the future of investment policy regulation on the continent.

Issues for debate:

• Within the context of the current regional integration efforts, what steps could be taken to better harness these drivers of intra-African investment flows?
• What other strategies can be best employed to attract productive investment from both African and outside the continent?
• What elements would be appropriate in the investment chapter of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to provide a balance between investors’ and host States’ rights and obligations?
• Should African countries seek to harness the potential of the AfCFTA to negotiate a new type of investment treaties, or should they rather pursue an altogether different approach?