Arbitration in Africa: New York Convention and ICSID, country by country

The New York Convention

The 1958 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards obliges its parties’ courts to recognize and enforce arbitral awards made in other states, subject to limited grounds for refusal. Some states made reservations – for example applying it only to awards made in other member states, or only to commercial disputes. The status table below shows the year it entered into force for each African party. Not a party as of October 2026: Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Guinea-Bissau, Libya, Namibia, Somalia, South Sudan, The Gambia, Togo.

The ICSID Convention

The 1965 ICSID Convention created the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, part of the World Bank Group, where investors and states can arbitrate investment disputes if both have agreed. A country that has signed but not ratified the Convention is not yet bound by it.

OHADA arbitration

In the 17 OHADA countries, the Uniform Act on Arbitration sets the arbitration law, and the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA) in Abidjan both supervises arbitrations under its own rules and acts as the supreme court for OHADA law. More on OHADA.

Before you sign an arbitration clause

• Name the seat (the legal home of the arbitration) – its courts supervise the process.
• Choose the rules and, if you want one, an institution.
• Set the language and the number of arbitrators.
• Check where you would need to enforce an award, and that country’s treaty status below.
• Have the clause reviewed by a lawyer admitted in the countries concerned.

Country by country

Sources: UNCITRAL status table; ICSID database of member states – read October 2026. Year = entry into force. Not legal advice.

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