General Information

Our practice areas

We advise and assist our clients in their business dealings with Africa in the folowing legal an tax areas:

• Mining, oil and gas:
  - assisting and advising mining and oil companies on their investments and operations
  - assisting and advising mining and oil services companies
• Project and infrastructure financing:
  - structuring major infrastructure projects through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), privatisations and partial privatisations
  - managing signing and executing public sector contracts
• Optimisation and security of intragroup operations:
  - identifying and making optimum use of existing incentive schemes and tax breaks
  - drafting and/or amending contractual and company documents (especially Ohada business law)
  - analysing and optimising intragroup financial flows
  - analysing and optimising international mobility and expatriation policies
• Investment:
  - managing investment, co-operation and distribution projects
  - incorporating local tax considerations in the choice and location of investment vehicles
  - managing signing and executing indutrial projects (engineering, technology, transfer, turnkey contracts, etc.)
• Advice on corporate finance deals (acquisitions, divestments, joint ventures, restructurings, mergers):
  - conducting legal audits
  - drafting documents and legal deeds
  - assisting in negociations
  - managing national and international tax aspects of these deals
• Litigation and arbitration:
  - assisting in local and/or international tax litigation and arbitration procedures

Our approach

• Acknowledged experience in Africa: our many years of experience and close ties with Africa have enabled us to build relationships of trust with the local governments. Through this experience, we have also acquired the expertise needed to give clients ongoing, effective support. We provide solutions geared to the needs of national and international companies, drawing on our expert knowledge of specific issues involved in doing business in Africa and on the quality and discipline of our working methods.
• A dedicated multi-disciplinary team of lawyers based in Paris, which co-ordinates the involvement of local experts and international specialists: the team's lawyers have widely recognized expertise in African business law and taxation. When additional technical expertise is required, they also draw on support from other specialists within the firm or our local correspondents. This approach guarantees consistent service and a pan African perspective, providing clients with the benefits of synergies between our firm and our local correspondents, and delivering integrated solutions for their projects and growth strategy.
• A strong presence on the African continent, guaranteeing tailored, results-oriented services complying with local regulations: we monitor developments through our network of correspondents and the documentation centre we created over fifty years ago. Across Africa, we provide comprehensive legal and tax advice and assistance that meets international standards.