Teaching Africa's Future Economic Policy Makers
On October 24-28, 2011 an international team of lawyers delivered a week long course at the University of Pretoria on the use of special economic zones as a tool for attracting foreign direct investment and increasing development. The course was part of Africa’s first Masters Degree on international trade and investment law in Africa, a highly selective course run by the University of Pretoria and targeted at graduate level students from across Africa.
The teaching took place on site at the University in Pretoria, to a class of 16 students from countries as diverse as Botswana; Cameroon; the Democratic Republic of Congo; Lesotho; Malawi; Namibia; Somaliland (Somalia); South Africa; Tanzania; Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The New Perimeter teaching team included: Christine Jesseman and Khaya Mantengu (DLA Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, Johannesburg, South Africa); Sarah Salmond and Aline Doussin (DLA Piper, London, United Kingdom), Claire Donse (DLA Piper, Sydney, Australia), and Martin Schaefermeier (DLA Piper, Washington DC, United States of America). The teaching team was assisted by a number of DLA Piper associates from across the United States, including Steve Weerts (Los Angeles), Chung Wei (Palo Alto), Leon Skornicki (New York), Robin Krieger (Baltimore), Stephanie Smith (Los Angeles), Jon Labukas (Washington, D.C.) and Christine Couvillon (Dallas).
The University of Pretoria is the leading research university in South Africa and one of the largest universities in the country. The University has six campuses as well as a number of other sites of operation, including a teaching hospital, and offers more than 1800 academic programs in Afrikaans and English, two of South Africa’s official languages. At the request of the University, the New Perimeter team designed a course to expose students to the concepts and mechanics of special economic zones, the benefits and constraints of special economic zones as a policy tool, and to equip them with the knowledge and tools necessary to act as future trade and investment policy advisors in their respective countries. The curriculum was participatory and interactive, and required the students to apply the knowledge they learnt in a group presentation to the class on the prospects of implementing a special economic zone in four African countries.
