Chinese investor succeeded in investment arbitration against Nigeria: Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd -v- Federal Republic of Nigeria, ad hoc Arbitration under UNCITRAL Rules in London, Final Award dated 26 March 2021 and published on 27 January 2022.
In Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd. -v- Federal Republic of Nigeria, the London-seated arbitral tribunal, presided by Lord Neuberger, the former president of the UK Supreme Court, found that the measures taken by Nigeria had seriously affected and damaged the investment of Chinese investors in the free trade zone in Ogun State, Nigeria, and violated the Bilateral Investment Treaty (‘BIT’) between the People’s Republic of China and Nigeria by terminating the cooperative relationship between the two sides. This is an uncommon arbitral award under the Chinese BITs, which the tribunal’s jurisdiction is not limited to the award of determining the amount of compensation for expropriation, but also including moral damages.