Settlement of Investment Disputes in Cameroon: An Appraisal of Law No. 2013/004 of 18 April 2013 to Lay Down Private Investment Incentives in Cameroon
Abstract:The Cameroon government is putting in a lot of effort with regard to the legal framework for the regulation of investments in Cameroon. In recent times, there has been a lot of legislation in this
respect. The government is so concerned with this because of the important role investments play. The plethora of legislation in this domain is eloquent testimony of the importance that government attaches to the economic development of the country. The investment legislation in Cameroon provides for investment incentives, aimed at attracting investments, both local and foreign. The focus of this article is on the Settlement of Investment Disputes which is one of the key areas dealt with by the 2013 law on private incentives. There are a variety of mechanisms through which disputes could be settled. However, the 2013 law focuses on amicable settlement and arbitration. This gives the impression that the other mechanisms for the settlement of disputes are not effective or not appropriate or may not be appealing to investors. The worry of this article is, what happens in a case where amicable settlement and arbitration fail to produce the desired results. Does it mean that investors dread litigation as a mechanism for the settlement of investment disputes? In the course of espousing this worry, this article examines the meaning of investments, the mechanisms for the settlement of investment disputes provided by the 2013 law on the one hand as well as those not mentioned on the other hand. The article then ends by presenting a case for the amendment of the 2013 law on private investment incentives which had already been amended in 2017.
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