Analysis

Efforts to decolonize international law to make it more universal and inclusive have been underway for some time, with varying degrees of success. One prominent approach in this pursuit is Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), which seeks to challenge and rethink international law from perspectives that center the experiences and histories of the Global South. However, TWAIL does not prescribe a specific methodology, allowing scholars flexibility in their approaches but sometimes making it challenging to delineate clear tenets that define TWAIL as a coherent scholarly tradition. In the context of developing cohesive methodologies for this discipline, "Third World" scholars have made great efforts to refine and implement a more inclusive framework. This Insight presents some progress achieved while highlighting the challenges encountered in different areas of international law across regions like Asia, Latin America, and Africa, where scholars have embraced TWAIL to reframe and advance the teaching of international law.

In July, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights released its Advisory Opinion on Climate Emergency and Human Rights. The findings of the Court establish a clear path on how states must address climate change under a human rights and environmental perspective.

In July, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights released its Advisory Opinion on Climate Emergency and Human Rights. The findings of the Court establish a clear path on how states must address climate change under a human rights and environmental perspective. The purpose of this post is to assess the main environmental breakthroughs of this Advisory Opinion as well as the business & human rights assessment the Court does on this matter.

This paper examines the contested claim that the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) enjoys Preferred Creditor Status (PCS), particularly in the context of its recent downgrade by Fitch to BBB-. While Afreximbank cites provisions in its founding treaty as evidence of such status, the realities of sovereign debt restructuring suggest that PCS is not a legally enforceable right, but a practice shaped by consistent behaviour and market consensus. The analysis argues that, despite normative justifications advanced by African multilateral development banks and sympathetic scholars, the inconsistent treatment of Afreximbank’s claims by African sovereigns has weakened its path toward recognition. Drawing on recent debt workouts in Ghana and Zambia, the paper highlights how systemic pressures and the absence of a global debt resolution framework have compelled member states to treat Afreximbank as an ordinary creditor. It concludes that recognition of PCS for regional development banks cannot be achieved solely through legal assertion or treaty clauses. Instead, it must be earned through consistent practice, reinforced by institutional behaviour, and ultimately sponsored by a reformed global financial architecture. In the interim, the creation of a differentiated PCS tier for regional development banks could serve as a pragmatic step toward balancing developmental imperatives with restructuring realities.

Professor Kofi Kufuor, in his recent book on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), dedicates a chapter to African sub-national governments (SNGs), cities and the AfCFTA (generally see Kufuor, 2024: chapter 6, 148-160). In this chapter, Kufuor makes a compelling observation that cities and sub-national governments (SNGs) are absent from the AfCFTA complex (Kufuor, 2024: 148). He proceeds to explain this absence and the need for their inclusion. This review critically reflects on Kufuor's assessment, drawing on the emerging literature on paradiplomacy in the African context and the engagement of SNGs and cities with integration in Africa.

While much has been written about the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), very few studies address the social, political and cultural implications of this new regional bloc from the perspective of international economic law. In this respect, Professor Kufuor’s book pushes disciplinary boundaries and presents an original account of how markets have been constituted, expanded and reformulated across Africa. Kufuor draws on a range of theoretical lenses from international political economy, jurisprudence, history, sociology and economics to critically evaluate what institutional shifts will be required at different levels of governance if the aim of pan-African unification through a rules-based order is to materialise.

The AfCFTA, which aims at setting up a single market for goods and services ‘from Cairo to Cape Town’, is the subject of the eloquent monograph written by Professor Kufuor. The author, a well-known scholar on African legal affairs, has published extensively, inter alia, on world trade, on (the problems of) African integration and on RECs. Therefore, he is eminently qualified to write about the pan-African ‘Trading Order’.

This paper explores the persistence of protectionist trade policies across Africa and their implications for economic development, regional integration, and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). While protectionism can support emerging industries and strategic sectors, excessive reliance on it undermines long-term growth and regional cooperation. Kofi Oteng Kufuor’s work on protectionism in Africa, as a sub-part of his recent monograph The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement: the Development of a Rules-Based Trading Order, dissects the problem of protectionism within Africa. He demonstrates the threat to the planned single market from a range of forces, that can operate on two-levels, the sub-regional level and the regional level. African countries have stunted intra-African trade with protectionism. Drawing from historical developments, legal frameworks, and policy case studies—including Nigeria’s 2019–2020 border closure—the study evaluates the balance between national trade protection and continental liberalization efforts. It also highlights institutional and regulatory constraints that hinder AfCFTA’s implementation. The paper concludes by advocating for a pragmatic approach to trade policy—combining time-bound protectionism with structural reforms to foster sustainable development and pan-African economic unity.

The African Youth Essay Competition, organized by AfCFTA Dialogues, aims to promote awareness and foster the exchange of ideas about the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and African development. In commemoration of African Integration Day, the inaugural edition in 2024 engages young Africans in discussions on the significance of the AfCFTA, with a focus on advocating for the free movement of Africans within the continent to facilitate economic integration and drive sustainable development.

The author provided a historical basis for any scholar or student of international economic law, development, and international relations to understand the underlying factors behind the current unequal trade structure and arrangements within the World Trade Organization. Therefore, African leaders must collectively seek to dismantle all international legal instruments with colonial legacies, enhancing economic bargaining and prospects for the continent.