Seminar on Financial Engineering – Mr. Ramone Jackson – June 2nd, 2023

Leading Boards Africa (LBA) Webinar – with Guest Speaker & Panelist Dr. Joel Allen – November 30, 2022

Webinar featuring Growth Perspectives Co-Founder and Executive Chairman Dr. Joel Allen on “In the Board Room, Building Institutional Resilience and Agility – Insights for Boards of Africa”

Click here to watch the webinar

Webinar @ Growth Perspectives – November 03, 2022 

International Investment Agreements, Business Innovation and Regulatory Authority: African-Caribbean Perspectives 

International investment agreements (IIAs), consisting principally of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and treaties with investment provisions (TIPs) such as Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), are entered into by states with the primary aim of protecting, promoting, and facilitating foreign direct investment (FDI). The number of investment treaties reached 3,288 at the end of 2021. These consist of 2,861 BITs and 427 TIPs. The total number of IIAs in force reached 2,558 by the end 

2021. The volume of IIAs concluded by states demonstrates the importance states attach to them. The conventional wisdom behind these treaties is that they attract FDI and that FDI leads to development. These treaties provide for substantive standards of investment protection as well as dispute resolution mechanisms commonly referred to as investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). Through the ISDS mechanism, various forms of governmental regulation of the activities 

and operations of foreign investors and their covered investments have been challenged by foreign investors. As of January 2022, publicly known ISDS claims reached 1,190 involving 130 countries as respondents. 

This presentation will engage with the investment protection, business innovation and public interest regulation dimensions of international investment agreements. First, the presentation will cover the substantive standards of investment protection and the legal protections they accord 

to investment and how such protections provide a basis for business innovation in Africa and the Caribbean. Second, the presentation will engage with the making and implementation of domestic law and regulations relating to the environment, climate change and human rights 

protection and the potential conflict with investment treaties to which African and Caribbean states are parties. 

ZOOM LOGIN DETAILS 
Meeting ID: 837 7765 5783
Passcode: 151548
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83777655783?pwd=NFZkTDJQTkEvVEZtbk5JUmlnaitDQT09

Presenter: Dr. Dominic Dagbanja, Technical Consultant – Global and African Business Strategy, Public Policy, International Investment Law and Trade Treaties Specialist at Growth Perspectives Limited 

Dr Dominic Dagbanja is also a Senior Lecturer in International Investment Law at The University of Western Australia Law School and a Research Fellow, African Procurement Law Unit, Department of Mercantile Law, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He received his Doctor of Philosophy in Law from The University of Auckland, Master of Laws in Government Procurement Law from The George Washington University, Master of Laws in Transnational Business Practice from the University of the Pacific and a Bachelor of Laws, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from University of Ghana. He has published extensively in reputable peer reviewed law journals including Cambridge Law Review, Journal of World Investment and Trade and Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal. He is the author of The Investment Treaty Regime and Public Interest Regulation in Africa (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022). He has served as an Investment Policy Consultant to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and has been a panellist on various law firms-based discussion panels on investment treaty law and arbitration, investment in mining and restructuring of mining firms in Australia. Dr Dagbanja scheduled as the Guest Speaker at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs Trade’s (DFAT) Trade and Investment Law Timeout series for DFAT’s staff and officers of the Office of International Law of the Australian Attorney General’s Department. 

RECOMMENDED READING 

New Book Published by Dr Dominic Dagbanja, Entitled “The Investment Treaty Regime and Public Interest Regulation in Africa”, Oxford University Press, 2022. Please start with Chapter 1, Pages 4-18 and then move to Chapters 4 and 5. 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE BOOK ON AMAZON

ABOUT US 

Growth Perspectives Limited (GPL) is a dynamic Jamaica-based international management consultancy firm that specializes in strategy formation, corporate education and innovation enabling. The firm is comprised of some of the brightest minds in these areas and has strategic partnerships with leading global organizations such as Moody’s Analytics Global Education Canada Inc. – owners of the Canadian Securities Institute, and Newstate Partners (UK). 

GPL primarily serves public and private sector clients across the Caribbean, Latin American and African regions. Its growing client base include, for example, Proven Wealth Limited, Caribbean Rentals Limited (Anguilla), Tred Labs, RohMar Finance Limited, Perishables Jamaica Limited and Bank of Saint Lucia. 

OUR SLOGAN 

Enabling innovation and organizational growth. 

CONTACT DETAILS 

Please contact us by telephone at 876-402-7114 or by email at info@growthperspectives.co to arrange a free 10-minute consultation with Dr. Dominic Dagbanja or another one of our experts. Feel free to also log onto our website at www.growthperspectives.co


Caribbean Innovation to the World:

Building a Culture of Innovation to Unleash Caribbean Ingenuity and New Product Offering


Mr. Joseph Cox
An Applied Economics Consultant and Advocate with a career spanning 30 years, Mr. Cox is currently the Assistant Secretary-General, Trade and Economic Integration at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana.

Mr. Cox’s contribution to Regional Development is varied and includes the recent authoring of a book entitled “The New Normal – A Post-COVID Primer for Business”; conceptualized and received the unanimous approval from the Council of Trade and Economic Development (COTED) of the Made in CARICOM initiative. He also author’s and publishes CARICOM Business – a weekly regional business newsletter, which is circulated both regionally and internationally.

Prior to his CARICOM Secretariat posting, Mr. Cox was the Managing Partner for the Centre for Growth and Development in Jamaica, doubling as the Executive Director of the Growth Secretariat at the Planning Institute of Jamaica while providing oversight for the Inter-American Development Bank / Government of Jamaica Competitiveness Enhancement Programme. A Jamaican national, Mr. Cox holds both a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of the West Indies and is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for Service to Jamaica.

Ms. Diane Edwards
Diane Edwards is the President of Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) – the national investment and export promotion agency. Possessing a wealth of knowledge and experience in international marketing and business development, Ms. Edwards is committed to developing and advancing Jamaica’s business brand. Through dynamic and adept leadership, she has led JAMPRO’s transformational development to serve as a catalyst for wealth creation through increased customer focus and more effective marketing communications programmes and has promoted a culture of innovation to facilitate and support the development of new industries in Jamaica, such as shared services, medical tourism and cannabis.

Ms. Edwards has also served as the President and a Board Member of the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA) as well as the Caribbean Export Development Agency. Prior to leading JAMPRO, she served as General Manager and Director of J. Wray & Nephew UK Ltd.

Ms. Edwards holds an MBA Degree from New York’s Pace University and a Master’s Degree in International Relations from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and is fluent in English, French, Spanish and German.

Dr. Marcus Goffe
Dr. Marcus Goffe is Deputy Director/Legal Counsel of the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO). He is an Attorney-at-Law with over twenty (20) years of experience in several areas of law including intellectual property law, entertainment law, media law and human rights law.

Dr. Goffe holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) Degree from the University of the West Indies, a Master of Laws (LL.M.) Degree in Intellectual Property Law and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree in Law from Queen Mary, University of London. His PhD focused on the protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions in the Caribbean.

Ms. Annette Mark
Annette Mark was appointed as the Executive Director of Invest SVG on October 16, 2017. As the Executive Director, Ms. Mark is responsible for the overall performance of Invest SVG in the carrying out of its mandate which includes attracting foreign direct investments to St Vincent and the Grenadines and the expansion of export markets for local firms.

Ms. Mark is an Attorney-at-Law and previously held the positions of Chief of Immigration of the Antigua and Barbuda Department of Immigration and Legal Counsel for the Office of Drug and Money Laundering Control Policy in Antigua.

While at the ONDCP Ms. Mark was appointed as the Governmental Expert for Antigua and Barbuda for the Working Groups of the Implementation Review Group of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and the Mechanism for the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (MESICIC).

Mr. Carlton Cummins
Carlton Cummins is an Entrepreneur and Design Engineer who creates solutions relevant to the challenges faced by society. Mr. Cummins began his career working in the solar space, coordinating over 100 installations in the Caribbean before moving to the UK to pursue a Master’s in Business & Sustainability. He is passionate about electric & fuel cell vehicles (his favorite low carbon vehicle is the Toyota Mirai).

For his efforts, Mr. Cummins has been featured within the media, including on BBC Breakfast Live, Autodesk Trade Magazine and Energy Storage News. He is one of the top 10 Entrepreneurs of Barbados having been named by Prime Minister Mia Motley in her state address in 2019. Mr. Cummins has also been named the Shell Young Entrepreneur of the Year and is featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.