John W Ffooks & Co

The firm: John W Ffooks & Co was established in 2005 and remains the largest independent full-service commercial law firm in Francophone Africa. Since then JWF has grown exponentially both in terms of size and its service offering – the firm now boasts over 40 lawyers, each of whom are qualified to advise in their home jurisdiction, as well as office locations in Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mauritius and Senegal. The main areas of focus of the firm are: corporate, commercial, energy, projects, natural resources, banking and finance and telecommunications.

John Ffooks, the founding partner of the firm, first came to Madagascar in 2002 and has over 25 years, experience acting for listed companies in Australia, London, New York and Toronto with assets across Africa. Before setting up the firm in 2005 John worked for Clifford Chance LLP and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & McRae LLP in London as well as spending some time at the Development Bank of South Africa in Johannesburg. John is now based in London but has lived and worked as a lawyer in Africa for over 20 years.

Areas of practice: John W Ffooks & Co is the only legal practice in Francophone Africa with a combination of Napoleonic and English law expertise. The firm’s multilingual, international lawyers specialise in commercial and business law. It advises on these aspects within each country in their region and also has specialist expertise in the mining, oil and gas and telecommunications sectors. Their particular strengths are in advising on investing in Francophone Africa and on local law. With associated offices throughout the region, they are able to service clients in their host countries and home jurisdictions. The lawyers are able to respond to clients’ needs at every level, from operational matters on-the-ground to head office issues. From their offices in Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Senegal and Mauritius they provide coverage of Francophone OHADA jurisdictions across the continent, including: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal and Togo.