The lawyer based in Angola recalled that, since the election of the President, João Lourenço, in 2018, the country has been trying to attract foreign direct investment to help diversify the economy beyond oil exploration.
The focus on arbitration of investment disputes could “prove to potential foreign investors that it is safe to invest in Angola and that the country respects the rights of investors”, defended Dono.
Last week, the Minister of Finance, Vera Daves de Sousa, admitted that it was necessary to "create an environment of trust, reinforce the international community's perception of Angola", so that the country is able to "have private capital, whether national or foreign, available”.
João Dono recalled that Angola has already signed bilateral investment agreements, which provide guarantees to investors, with 19 countries, including Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe.
The lawyer, trained in Portugal and who has also worked in Cape Verde, was speaking during an online seminar on arbitration of investment disputes in Portuguese-speaking countries.
At the same seminar, Carla Monteiro lamented the delay in implementing the bilateral investment agreements that Cape Verde signed with Guinea-Bissau, in 2015, and with São Tomé and Príncipe and Equatorial Guinea, in 2019.
“I hope they will come into force in the near future”, said the Cape Verdean lawyer, who highlighted the importance of providing guarantees to foreign investors for a country whose economy depends on tourism.
Mozambican lawyer Dimétrio Manjate also underlined that countries should take the implementation of bilateral investment agreements to the end, to protect their international reputation.
Manjate recalled a case brought to arbitration by a South African businessman against the Mozambican state, but which ended up being shelved in 2019 because Mozambique and South Africa had not completed the ratification of a bilateral investment agreement.
Oded Besserglik took Mozambique to arbitration in 2015 due to the acquisition of two boats and investment in two state companies dedicated to fishing: Empresa Moçambicana de Pescas and Sulpesca.
The seminar was organized by the University of San Jose, Macau, the China International Economic and Commercial Arbitration Commission, the Macau Academy of Comparative Alternative Dispute Resolution and the Macau Lusophone Association Arbitration and Mediation.
