The ICC International Court of Arbitration has registered its 30,000th case under the ICC Arbitration Rules, marking a significant milestone as the year draws to a close.
The 30,000th registered case involves parties from Africa.
Of the 2,400 parties from 136 countries and independent territories that referred their disputes to arbitration under the ICC Arbitration Rules in 2024, almost 200 parties were from Africa. In the same year, the ICC Court registered 831 new cases, of which over 110 related to disputes in Africa. 26 of those cases involved all-African parties, and 19 involved parties from the same African country.
In addition to providing case management services to African parties, ICC capacity-building efforts provided support to the next generation of African arbitrators through the first-ever ICC Advanced Arbitration Academy for Africa, which concluded recently. An additional milestone is expected to be reached in the summer of 2026, as ICC prepares the 10th edition of its Africa Conference on International Arbitration.
ICC’s increased connection to the African legal and business community, as well as African states and state-owned enterprises, is part of ICC’s ongoing commitment to broaden and deepen support for trade and investment across Africa. Alongside a growing presence that includes 10 national committees and 33 chambers of commerce members of the ICC World Chambers Federation, ICC recently launched the TradeRoots Africa program. This B20 South Africa legacy initiative supports SME integration into regional value chains and supports the “last mile” implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Access to tools, knowledge, and trustworthy dispute resolution services is critical for the potential of the AfCFTA to be realized.
