Cameroon Ordered to Pay €78.5 Million Plus Interest in ICSID Arbitration over Olembé Stadium Dispute
Stories are grouped across languages, rewritten into a fixed editorial format, and linked to original sources.
TL;DR
- ICSID tribunal orders Cameroon to pay €78.5 million in damages to Piccini.
- Liability arises from unlawful expropriation and breaches of investment protections.
- Award covers compensation, interest, partial legal fees, and arbitration costs.
- Dispute concerns the terminated Olembé sports complex construction contract.
Overview
An ICSID tribunal has ruled against Cameroon, ordering it to pay €78.5 million plus interest to Italian contractor Gruppo Officine Piccini in a dispute over the termination of the Olembé sports complex contract. The tribunal found Cameroon responsible for unlawful expropriation, breaches of fair and equitable treatment, and failure to protect the investor. The award also covers partial legal fees and arbitration costs. This decision arises from the application of the Cameroon-Italy investment treaty.
What Happened
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal issued its award on September 4, 2026, in favor of Gruppo Officine Piccini, the Italian contractor for the Olembé sports complex project in Cameroon.
The tribunal ordered Cameroon to pay €78.5 million (approximately CFA53.5 billion) in compensation, covering Piccini's net investment, lost profits on uncompleted works, loss of use and value of machinery, and post-expropriation expenses.
The compensation amount is subject to annually compounded interest from November 29, 2019 at a rate tied to the six-month Euribor plus four percentage points until payment in full.
Cameroon was also ordered to reimburse 70% of Piccini's legal fees (about €2.86 million) and pay over $157,000 in arbitration costs.
The tribunal found Cameroon liable for unlawful expropriation, failure to provide fair and equitable treatment, and lack of full protection and security, based on breaches of the 1999 Cameroon-Italy investment agreement.
Piccini had sought significantly higher damages, but the tribunal awarded 41.6% of the material damages claim and rejected claims for moral damages and most-favored-nation treatment.
Context
The dispute arose from the Cameroonian Ministry of Sports' 2019 termination of Piccini's contract for the construction of the Olembé sports complex, a project valued at CFA194.4 billion.
Following the termination and requisition of its equipment, Piccini filed an arbitration under the ICSID based on the Cameroon-Italy bilateral investment treaty.
The project was later reassigned to Magil Construction, and allegations included site abandonment and contractual breaches by Piccini, which the tribunal ultimately determined were unsupported as grounds for expropriation.
ICSID awards are binding but subject to limited annulment procedures.
Why It Matters
- This ICSID award highlights Cameroon's liability for investment treaty breaches in a significant government infrastructure project.
- The case demonstrates ICSID's enforcement of investor protections under bilateral treaties.
- The ruling may impact future foreign investment and state contracting practices in Cameroon.