On 5 and 6 May 2011 the first African International Economic Law Network Conference was held at the Mandela Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Prominent academics and international trade lawyers from around the globe were in attendance to both mark the successful launch of the African Chapter on the International Economic Law Network Conference and to discuss the central theme of the conference being “Africa and the Global Economy: Trade, Investment and Development.” Notably 12 African countries were present at the event.
Over two days participants were treated to presentations and discussions on the cutting edge papers that were invited to be submitted by leading lawyers in the field. These discussions covered :
• African regional trade agreements;
• African participation at the WTO;
• Dispute resolution in international trade law including the recent the recent difficulties encountered at the SADC Tribunal;
• Africa-South investment relations;
• Economic integration in Africa;
• Business and regulatory issues in Africa;
• Trade Remedies available to business; and
• The need for increased education on international economic law.
Hilton Zunckel served on the organising committee and chaired a session entitled “Themes and Issue in Contemporary International Economic Law”. Lambert Botha presented a paper he was commissioned to write by the USAID Southern Africa Global Competitiveness Hub entitled “The regulation of energy goods and services under the rules of the WTO”.
Hilton Lambert looks forward to a longstanding association with the African International Economic Law Network and we offer our congratulations to the ladies elected as the new co-chairs of the Network – Nokuhle Madolo from the Mandela Institute at Wits Law School and Malebakeng Forere from the University of KwaZulu-Natal