International trade allows countries to expand their markets and access goods and services that otherwise may not have been available domestically.
As a result of international trade, the market is more competitive. This ultimately results in more competitive pricing and brings a cheaper product home to the consumer.
The movement of goods, people, money and technology is the lifeblood of commerce. Cross-border commerce involves state-actors and multi-national corporations. It involves economic activity ranging from agriculture to development aid, foreign investment, banking, commodities, transport and trade. In response to this, a complex set of rules governing trade and economic relations between states on the one hand and between states and multi-national corporations on the other, has developed over time.
We have expertise in the following broad areas of international trade and international economic relations:
First, international trade which is regulated by treaties. There are multi-lateral treaties like the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) or the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). State parties who are members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have also, in that capacity, become party to various other agreements or protocols to agreements. There are also a number of regional trade agreements, for example those between Africa and the European Community, or between Africa and the United States, or else between Africa and China, etc. We advise state parties in the negotiation of trade agreements when they are formed, or in the interpretation of them when they are implemented, or in the resolution of disputes that occur under them.
Secondly, we assist states in their endeavors to secure funding for social, economic and developmental projects: to pay for programmes aimed at reducing poverty and to build infrastructure like power stations, hospitals, airports and harbours. We do this by negotiating favourable terms with funders such as, for example, the World Bank, African Development Bank (ADB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to name a few. Conversely, we also advise these same financiers when they lend money to states by conducting risk assessments and due diligences.
Thirdly, we assist multi-national corporations who want to invest, or have invested, in foreign states. We help them when they negotiate concessions with those states. We also help them to protect their assets and investments by managing economic and political risk. We also help them when disputes arise by resolving those disputes swiftly and discreetly through settlement negotiations or, if that fails, by arbitration.