IMPLICATION OF COMESA MEMBERS BITS CONVERGENCE ON INTEGRATION OF EASTERN AFRICA: CASE OF COMESA COMMON INVESTMENT AREA AND ETHIOPIA BITs ANALYSIS

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.