Protecting natural gas investments: trends in investment treaties and investors projections in Africa.

Nalule, Victoria R.; Babajide, Nathaniel A.

Abstract

Natural gas is increasingly gaining prominence in Africa’s energy landscape. It has now surpassed coal to become the leading electricity generation fuel providing roughly 40% of Africa’s electricity generation requirements. Consequently, investments in natural gas have been escalating on the African continent. This has necessitated the various international, regional, and national initiatives and mechanisms to protect these investments from both legal and socio-political risks. Given the long-term nature of oil and gas projects, investors often insist on contractual and treaty mechanisms for protecting their investments from economic, legal, and geopolitical risks. Whereas various investments in the African energy sector have been witnessed in different countries, this chapter will focus on natural gas investments. The chapter analyses the various investment protection mechanisms for natural gas investments, especially taking cognisance of the various transition risks associated with the ongoing global move to transition to low carbon energy systems, which is characterised by laws and policies which are likely to change the energy business structure globally. The chapter draws examples from different African countries with respect to investment treaties and national mechanisms for protecting natural gas investments.

Citation

NALULE, V.R. and BADAJIDE, N.A. 2022. Protecting natural gas investments: trends in investment treaties and investors projections in Africa. In: Olawuyi, D.S. and Pereira, E.G. (eds.) The Palgrave handbook of natural gas and global energy transitions. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan [online], chapter 19, pages 461-481. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91566-7_19

• Other Type: Reference Work Contribution
• Online Publication Date: May 5, 2022
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2022
• Deposit Date: Feb 22, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: May 23, 2024
• Publisher: Springer
• Pages: 461-481
• Chapter Number: Chapter 19
• ISBN: 9783030915650
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91566-7_19
• Keywords: Natural gas; Energy investments; African energy sector; Energy transitions; Stabilisation clauses; Investment treaties
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2249843