EU-Angola Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement: Key Features, Benefits, and Impact

Traditional investment treaties established broad protections for foreign investors, including the right to directly sue host states in case of disputes. However, dissatisfaction with this framework led states to pursue reforms along two main paths. First, States restructured the investment protection framework in newer treaties, offering narrower protections, imposing new obligations on investors, and revising dispute resolution mechanisms. Alternatively, States shifted towards investment facilitation, exemplified by the European Union (EU)-Angola Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement (SIFA) which forms part of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy to foster sustainable investment agreements with Africa. SIFA presents an innovative approach to attracting investment, potentially offering substantial rewards for host states in the form of increased sustainable investments while foregoing traditional investment protection for foreign investors. While SIFA fosters a collaborative framework that may attract sustainable investments into host states economies, it remains to be seen whether the facilitation-focused approach will sufficiently incentivize long-term investor engagement. This paper explores SIFA’s key features, examining its benefits to both host states and foreign investors. Additionally, it assesses the potential impact of SIFA on the investment landscape, particularly how its provisions may influence investors behaviour in participating states.