Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 April 2006
EKWUEME, KHRUSHCHEV, Nigeria's principal investment laws in the context of international law and practice, Journal of African Law, 49, 2 (2005): 177–206
The enactment of the NIPC Act and FEMMP Act in 1995 represent a paradigm shift in Nigeria in three major areas of investment rule-making, namely, investment liberalization, investment protection and settlement of investment disputes. These statutes, especially the NIPC Act, contain certain investment-friendly provisions relating to foreign participation in Nigerian enterprises, guarantees against expropriation, nationalization and currency risk, as well as State-investor arbitration. Although the literature on the NIPC Act and FEMMP Act is vast, no in-depth scholarly study has been done on them in the context of international law and practice. Primarily, this article examines the provisions of these laws through a practical lens by studying them alongside the jurisprudence of the ICSID. It also explores specific constitutional and administrative law questions intimately related to the treatment of foreign investment in Nigeria. Finally, it assesses inflows of FDI into Nigeria and considers some of the impediments to foreign investment in the country.