Ethiopia's bilateral investment treaties: Substantive and procedural issues

International investment law has a decentralized structure since it is not based on a multilateral agreement or a unified international body. It is highly decentralized, with several bilateral, regional, and worldwide agreements. Following the signature of the first modern bilateral investment treaty (BIT) in 1959 between West Germany and Pakistan, the conclusion of BITs has been one of the most active sectors of public international law-making in terms of foreign investment protection in succeeding decades. The primary goal of BITs is believed to be offering essential protection for foreign investments, specifying the obligations of state parties in this regard, and promoting investment inflows to the host country. Ethiopia was also among the pioneer countries to join the BIT system, signing its first BIT with Germany in 1964, five years after the first BIT was established. The thesis will address the substantive and procedural framework of Ethiopia's BITs. After having a general discussion on the substantive and procedural rights provided under the majority of BITs in light of countries' BIT experience and relevant arbitration tribunals decisions, we will specifically discuss the status of fair and equitable treatment (FET), national treatment (NT), and most favored nations (MFN) treatments standards status under Ethiopia's BITs from the substantive rights point of view and investor-state dispute settlement provisions to deal with procedural issues. The analysis will encompass the structure and contents of these standards of protection, the progress the Ethiopian BITs have in addressing them, and the loopholes to be addressed. Keywords: Bilateral investment treaties, Expropriation, Fair and Equitable Treatment, Investor-state dispute settlement, National Treatment.