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By Chinenye Anuforo
Africa must urgently operationalise its investment protection framework and harmonise legal and regulatory systems to unlock large-scale infrastructure and development projects across the continent, a legal expert has said.
Ken Melly, Partner at G&A Advocates LLP, said Africa possesses enormous economic potential but continues to attract disproportionately low foreign direct investment (FDI) due largely to fragmented legal systems and inconsistent investor protection mechanisms.
Melly made the submission against the backdrop of three major continental events held this May, the Africa Forward Summit 2026, the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, and the Mining Investment Conference and Expo which collectively highlighted the need for Africa to reposition its investment partnership model and strengthen legal safeguards.
According to him, the meetings reached similar conclusions on the need for co-investment, sovereign equality and African-led financial solutions, reflecting what he described as a decisive shift in the continent’s strategic direction.
He noted that Africa is projected to host nearly a quarter of the world’s population by 2050 and remains the world’s fastest-urbanising region, creating growing demand for infrastructure, energy and public services.
Despite holding close to one-third of global mineral reserves, the continent captures less than five per cent of global FDI and faces an annual development financing gap estimated by the African Development Bank at over $400 billion.
Melly argued that the contradiction between Africa’s natural wealth and persistent underinvestment is not merely a resource challenge but also a legal and regulatory problem.
He said fragmented investment rules, varying dispute resolution systems and inconsistent investor protections continue to elevate the perceived risk of African projects and increase the cost of capital.
To address the challenge, he called for the urgent ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Investment Protocol, adopted during the 36th African Union Summit in February 2023.
According to him, the protocol represents the continent’s most comprehensive framework for harmonising investor treatment and facilitating cross-border investments but is yet to come into force.
He explained that the agreement requires 22 instruments of ratification before becoming operational, stressing that although 54 out of 55 African Union member states have already signed the broader AfCFTA agreement, ratification of the investment protocol must be accelerated.
“Every month of delay is a month of forgone investment,” he stated.
Melly also called for reforms to Africa’s dispute resolution system, noting that cross-border commercial disputes are often exported to foreign jurisdictions such as Washington, London, Paris, Singapore and Stockholm.
He said this trend imposes significant financial and legal burdens on African economies and contributes to capital flight and uncertainty.
He urged African governments and legal advisers to promote the AfCFTA Protocol on Rules and Procedures on Settlement of Disputes as the preferred mechanism for resolving investor-state and intra-African commercial disputes.
The legal expert further highlighted the importance of deploying de-risking instruments such as the New African Financial Architecture for Development (NAFAD) and the African Trade and Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI).
He said both frameworks, though endorsed at continental level, remain underutilised and should be operationalised alongside the AfCFTA framework to lower investment risk and attract long-term private capital.
Melly noted that global development agencies, including UNCTAD, have repeatedly identified regulatory fragmentation as a major factor limiting Africa’s share of global investment flows.
He maintained that the challenge facing the continent is no longer a lack of solutions but slow implementation.
According to him, Africa’s next development frontier lies not in new resource discoveries but in closing the gap between national regulations and already agreed continental frameworks.
He warned that investment protection should not be treated as a technical policy issue alone but as a strategic decision capable of reshaping Africa’s long-term economic narrative.
