Can you tell us a little about your significant accomplishments over the last few years, as a team or by yourself?

The accomplishment has been assisting the group extensively. Groupe Duval has grown significantly over the past seven years. When I arrived in this group, there were about 300 companies, basically subsidiaries of the group, but currently there are about 800 companies. This is an indication of how much we have grown, and even in terms of human resources, we were about 2000 people in the group but now we stand at more than 5000 people. The legal team has had to play a role in this especially since the increased volume in activity is because of an increased number of acquisitions. For example, we have acquired microfinance companies in Africa and development companies in Europe. We also recently acquired Blue Green, a golf company, and this acquisition elevated our group level to number five globally, in terms of volume of activity. There is tremendous growth for the group, and it has necessitated the need for our legal team due to the implications of law at hand. The legal team has been able to follow the group and has even increased in size. The legal team consists of 18 members, not all of whom are under my direct supervision. The expertise across the team is varied, with impressive knowledge of international law, property law, M&A, microfinance, and insurance aspects.

Have any recent political, economic or regulatory changes impacted your work or company? How are you dealing with this? 

ESG compliance is a key issue for our group, as you know we are a family group and have values which are closely related to ESG and its requirements.

How has the increasing consciousness of climate change and sustainability affected your company and the team’s priorities?

From a practical point of view, you have meetings and don’t have to come up with papers to read, as everything is now on the computer. There is not a need for printing, and it is symbolic of what the preoccupation of the group is. For example, the construction that our development companies are making must strongly consider the environment, and it is true of all our activities now.