Stand-Alone Posts

The book is a contribution to the debate and literature on reforming SDT in the WTO, particularly, how to define and delimit access to SDT in the WTO. The book interrogates the problem of access to SDT resulting from the lack of a concrete criteria to identify a developing country at the WTO or more aptly, a country with a justifiable need for SDT. It answers the question of how to accommodate different levels of development among WTO members, while ensuring that the costs of multilateralism are shared equitably.

Join Schulich Law Associate Professor Olabisi D. Akinkugbe, Purdy Crawford Chair in Business Law, along with nearly 50 other leading scholars, graduate students, and legal practitioners for the Purdy Crawford Workshop on International Business Law: Rethinking the Dimensions of International Economic Law.

This workshop aims to produce an edited volume that will build upon the past contributions from the first Berlin event to address the main themes and conclusions from academic exchanges continued in Geneva. Participants will be asked to circulate draft papers of between 5000-7000 words before the workshop so that these can be shared among the participants to inform discussions at the workshop and ensure that you receive substantive feedback. Subject to peer review, a selection of presented papers will be considered for publication in the edited volume.

The Afronomicslaw Academic Forum is delighted to spotlight the achievements of some of its members.

The Afronomicslaw Academic Forum is delighted to spotlight the achievements of some of its members.

China is the largest developing country with a GDP of USD17.82 trillion, while Africa boasts of a conglomeration of the highest number of developing countries under the largest regional free trade mechanism – the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) – with a collective GDP of USD3.4 trillion. China is Africa’s largest bilateral trade partner. Trade between China and Africa stood at USD282 billion in 2023. China and Africa appreciate the significance of IP rights to fostering bilateral, and intra-regional (Africa), trade. Little wonders, therefore, international cooperation on IP rights forms a key strategy for achieving the objectives of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and the AfCFTA agreement. As the 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which was established in 2000, holds in China from 4-6 September with possible focus on green energy, ICTs and technology development, it is important to examine the continued prominence of IP issues in China-Africa relations.

The Protocol on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Protocol aims to promote science, industrialisation, services, investment, digital trade, technology and technology transfer, and regional value chains. This aligns closely with the African Union's Agenda 2063, Africa’s collective blueprint for transforming the continent into a global powerhouse of the future. This analysis argues that the IPR Protocol offers a viable pathway for African countries to foster technology transfer, innovation and technological advancement by creating a unified market, encouraging innovation and competition, enhancing industrialization and infrastructure development, and strengthening human capital development.

The African Sovereign Debt Justice Network, (AfSDJN), is a coalition of citizens, scholars, civil society actors and church groups committed to exposing the adverse impact of unsustainable levels of African sovereign debt on the lives of ordinary citizens. Convened by Afronomicslaw.org with the support of Open Society for Southern Africa, (OSISA), the AfSDJN's activities are tailored around addressing the threats that sovereign debt poses for economic development, social cohesion and human rights in Africa. It advocates for debt cancellation, rescheduling and restructuring as well as increasing the accountability and responsibility of lenders and African governments about how sovereign debt is procured, spent and repaid.

The African Sovereign Debt Justice Network, (AfSDJN), is a coalition of citizens, scholars, civil society actors and church groups committed to exposing the adverse impact of unsustainable levels of African sovereign debt on the lives of ordinary citizens. Convened by Afronomicslaw.org with the support of Open Society for Southern Africa, (OSISA), the AfSDJN's activities are tailored around addressing the threats that sovereign debt poses for economic development, social cohesion and human rights in Africa. It advocates for debt cancellation, rescheduling and restructuring as well as increasing the accountability and responsibility of lenders and African governments about how sovereign debt is procured, spent and repaid.