About

Number of years practice: 24

Principal practice areas: International arbitration, energy disputes

Languages spoken: English and French

What is the geographical focus of your practice in Africa?

Pan-African practice; my work has involved almost all jurisdictions across Africa, both North and sub-Saharan. Amongst those jurisdictions, Nigeria and Algeria have featured the most regularly.

Please describe the most important matters you have worked on in the African market in the last two years, including your role and the significance of the matter (if any) to the development of business and law.

Over the last two years I have advised and been counsel in a wide range of matters involving Africa. These include various global energy companies in Lagos-seated, ad hoc arbitrations concerning cost recovery and lifting disputes under Production Sharing Agreements for major hydrocarbon assets on offshore Nigeria (together with related Federal Court litigation in Lagos), with claims in excess of US$1bn.

I have also led a leading international oil and gas exploration company in an LCIA arbitration regarding a major LNG project in Equatorial Guinea involving claims over US$300m, as well as a major investment fund on disputes affecting significant investments in Nigeria (in mobile telephony), Kenya (in property development) and Cameroon (in electricity transmission and distribution).

Lastly, I have advised a leading international energy company in various ICC disputes regarding its material investment in a Tanzanian development project.

What differentiates your practice from that of other private practice lawyers?

The breadth of my experience under both civil and common law systems across the widest selection of jurisdictions in Africa, allied with more than 20 years’ experience in energy-related disputes. I also sit regularly as an arbitrator in Africa-related matters.

Why has Africa been a particularly strong focus for you?

Africa provides an unusually strong mix of jurisdictions from both the common law and civil law. Handling disputes across a range of different legal systems has been a particular feature of my practice for many years.

What changes have you seen in the appetite for Africa-based ventures and investments over the last five years?

The continued growth in interest from Asia (notably, China), and the relative decline of investment from Europe, other than through specialised investment funds.

Are there any aspects of the African legal market that you would like to see change?

The development of Africa-seated arbitration depends upon users having complete confidence that domestic courts would respect the agreement to arbitrate, particularly when a state entity is involved.

What megatrends do you think will shape the African market over the coming five years? How (if at all) will these trends affect your practice?

There is likely to be an increasing number of disputes between major African corporates and other African corporates or states, without any involvement of non-African investors or parties. Equally, there may well be in.creasing numbers of major international arbitrations seated in Africa. This will place an increasing premium on practitioners who really know (and spend time in) the relevant jurisdictions, rather than work on those disputes remotely.