I-Arb Africa and the University of Pretoria are delighted to bring to Pretoria the 1st Annual Southern African International Arbitration Conference (SAIAC).

With Africa's steep investment and development trajectory, SAIAC 2016 aims to highlight the importance of international arbitration as an effective dispute resolution mechanism and provide a platform from international arbitration practitioners from the Southern African region to network, promote their work and discuss developments in international arbitration in the region amongst each other, with the private sector and international law firms.

For the first edition of SAIAC, the focus will be on Arbitration in Extractive Sectors and the Future of Bilateral Investment Treaties in Africa, and the SAIAC Committee considers South Africa as a natural choice for hosting the first annual SAIAC. The conference agenda will include a panel on Asia-Africa disputes and training focusing on the drafting of arbitral awards and ethical rules for arbitrators. With the recent investment arbitration decisions concerning southern African countries and decisions by some countries to move away from the Bilateral Investment Treaties, there is a need to understand the alternatives and new trends in international arbitration as a tool for effective dispute resolution, including Asia-Africa disputes.

WilmerHale Partner Steven Finizio will be a panelist during Session 3 "Discussion on BITs in Southern Africa: A dying trend?" and will speak on the topic "An alternative for Africa: The Bilateral Arbitration Treaties."