Abstract:
The investment policy landscape in Africa is characterized by myriads of overlapping bilateral
and regional multi-lateral treaties with inconsistent provisions of those legal frameworks.
Currently BITs primarily leading investment environment across the world and world states have
now signed over three thousand of the BITs agreement yet it characterized by, a complex;
fragmented and heterogeneous content BITs agreement that leads for investment disputes for
which the problem is too worse for African BITs agreement.
One of ultimate objectives of the study at hand is to make theoretical analysis on necessity of
implementing COMESA common investment treaty area in harmonizing investment market
integration in general and Ethiopian BITs particularly.
In its way to achieve objectives enshrined under this study the study adopted doctrinal legal
research since addressing the issue at hand seek doctrinal way of research methodology through
individual analyzing capacity of the researcher. The study employed primary data like; COMESA
treaty, COMESA common investment treaty area and conducted in depth analysis on the contents
of existed legal frameworks based on individual perception and analyzing capacity of the
researcher. Further the study has employed secondary sources like; relevant literatures of other
scholars written on the areas and conducted review on those literatures to in its way address
existed disparities from current study.
The study has found lack of binding investment legal framework guides COMESA member’s state
has made individual member states to accept bilateral treaty concession that are not protect the
interest of the host states and further made them to incur cost of enacting investment legal
frameworks instantly and far from having perpetual legislation on the area. Further lack of
binding frameworks results for uneven distribution of investment throughout the COMESA
member states since absence of binding law externally leads countries individually offers
investment concession that are not protect their economic interest as one of pulling factor in
attracting foreign investors.
