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ICC says African regions contribute to new arbitration cases record in 2016


The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has said Africa has contributed to record figures for new cases filed for administration under ICC rules in 2016.

According to preliminary statistics released in January, a total of 966 new cases administered by the court were filed last year – involving 3,099 parties from 137 countries – which the court said was a record in its 94-year history.

On Africa, the court said it “continues to build on its foothold in North and Sub-Saharan Africa with each region securing an approximate 50% increase in the number of participating parties”.

“Despite increased competition in the market, Nigeria and Turkey both achieved new statistical records, accounting for 30 and 76 parties respectively,” the court said.

President of the court Alexis Mourre said: "These initial findings are welcome testament to our efforts to continually adapt our services to the needs of arbitration users around the world. These efforts will continue in 2017 with plans to build further on our global presence in the year ahead.

The ICC said it is set to publish a full statistical report in the first quarter of this year giving “further insight into ICC arbitration and its users”.

International arbitration and Africa specialist Rob Wilkins of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: “The significant upturn in the number of parties from north and sub-Saharan Africa participating in ICC arbitrations reflects our own experience and is part of a wider increase in the uptake of arbitration in the region.”

Wilkins said: “The increases can be attributed in part to the ICC’s efforts in recent years to increase awareness and uptake of ICC arbitration, but another factor is the increase in disputes arising on projects aimed at reducing Africa’s infrastructure deficit – many of which involve international parties and use contracts which provide for disputes to be resolved by international arbitration.”

The first ICC Africa Regional Arbitration Conference was hosted in Nigeria last June by the court and ICC Nigeria. The three-day conference day conference focused on relationships between inward foreign investment in emerging markets in Africa, the types of disputes which may arise, “and the African experience in arbitration proceedings”.

In November, the ICC announced amendments to its rules, aiming to increase the efficiency and transparency of its arbitrations. The ICC said expedited procedure rules would now automatically apply to all arbitrations where the amount in dispute is below $2 million, and to other cases on an opt-in basis.

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