Tullow Oil appoints new CEO in Ghana

The previous managing director of Tullow Oil Plc’s subsidiary in Gabon is assuming control of Tullow
Ghana Ltd. after the departure of country manager Wissam Al-Monthiry. Al-Monthiry will be leaving
the British oil and gas group at the end of July to pursue other opportunities.

09/07/2024 at 14h29, by Africa Business+

Based in London, Jean-Medard Madama was previously head of Tullow Oil Plc‘s
exploration business and its portfolio of non-operated and decommissioned assets. He
takes up his new role in July to act as interim CEO until a permanent director is
announced.

Madama started his career with Schlumberger and then joined Tullow Oil almost 12
years ago. He served as managing director of Gabon from 2012 to 2016, followed by
managing the Equatorial Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire assets from 2016 to 2017, based in
London. In 2018, he was appointed director of stranded (uneconomic) and non-
operated assets, and in 2023, he also took on the role of exploration director. Madama
was the president of the Gabonese Employers’ Union (UPEGA) from 2011 to 2012.

In Ghana, the new interim CEO will oversee key projects, including Jubilee South-East,
and will work on optimizing the TEN oil field and identifying new growth opportunities
in the Jubilee field.

Tullow Oil Plc reported a loss of $110 million in 2023 (compared with a profit of $49
million in 2022) after writing down the value of reserves at TEN, its flagship West
African oilfield (by over $301 million) due to investment delays.

The oil company, which is listed on the London and Ghana stock exchanges, is
forecasting strong cash flow from increased production at its Jubilee oilfield.
 Yeelen Fonds Financier acquires
minority stake in Burkina Faso
leasing operator
Burkina Faso’s leading leasing company is opening its capital to a minority shareholder to strengthen
its equity capital. Africa Business+ provides the details.

09/07/2024 at 15h28, by Africa Business+

As it undergoes its natural transition to a bank—pending approval from the regulatory

and monetary authorities—Fidelis Finance, the top leasing company in Burkina Faso, is
bringing in a new investor to join its board.

According to our information, this is Yeelen Fonds Financier, a member of the Cauris
Management group and a West African private equity fund manager. The latter injected
€7.6 million (FCFA 5 billion) into Fidelis Finance.

This funding comprises a €3.3 million equity investment and the remaining €4.3 million
in quasi-equity. Yeelen Fonds Financier’s resources are meant to bolster the future
establishment’s equity capital.

The fund’s entry into the bank’s capital, led by Kouafilann Abdoulaye Sory, is part of
the plan to convert the financial institution into a universal bank. However, approval
from the regulatory authorities is still pending. This transformation is part of its CAP 25
development strategy. To finance this, Fidelis Finance has committed to raising its share
capital from the current €9.5 million to €32.8 million.

In terms of ownership, Africapital remains Fidelis Finance’s main shareholder, along

with institutional investors from Burkina Faso (Fonds Burkinabè de Développement
Economique et Social, FBDES) and the subregion (Fonds de Solidarité
Africain, BOAD, BIDC), as well as Sunu Assurances (10%).

According to our sources, Fidelis Finance received advice from Burkina Faso business
lawyer Dramane Sanou for this deal. Florence Loan-Messan of the Côte d’Ivoire Bar is
advising Yeleen Fonds Financier.

Fidelis Finance, a banking-based financial institution, plays a significant role in financing

small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union. This is done notably
through leasing and factoring operations. As of the end of June 2024, its total lending to
SMEs had exceeded €228.6 million.
Zion Adeoye, CEO of CLG: “We will set
up a team of ten lawyers and advisers
in Pointe-Noire”
The CEO of CLG law firm, Zion Adeoye, talks to Africa Business+ about the firm’s recent expansion in
the Republic of Congo, the opportunities arising from the energy transition, and its stock market
entry.

09/07/2024 at 16h07, by Africa Business+

CLG (formerly Centurion Law Group) has opened an office in Pointe-Noire, Republic of
Congo. The law firm intends to support energy companies operating in the country,
including Perenco (which is drilling on the Tchibouela, Tchendo and Marine
fields), Eni (active offshore and in Koilou) and TotalEnergies (preparing an exploration
programme in Niamou).

The firm already has offices in the CEMAC region, in Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. It
is also present in Ghana, Mauritius, Nigeria, and Mozambique, active in South Africa, and
expanding into Namibia. CLG has also set up an “energy transition centre” managed in
Johannesburg by Leon van Der Merwe (director, South Africa) and Oneyka Cindy
Ojogbo (deputy managing partner), which offers legal and advisory services to
companies and regulators.

CLG was also established in Germany, where it went public in Düsseldorf two years ago.

Zion Adeoye has been CEO and managing partner of CLG since February, after taking
over from NJ Ayuk, who became executive chairman of the African Energy Chamber.
Adeoye, a Nigerian barrister at the Nigerian Bar, studied at the University of Ibadan and
Columbia Law School. After stints at NPDC and KPMG Nigeria, he worked at Olaniwun
Ajayi LP and Templars before becoming a lawyer at CLG and then a managing partner.

Why are you expanding in the Republic of Congo?

We provide a range of services in the Congo and have operated an office in Pointe-Noire
for around five years: we have just reopened in a larger space. We have also recruited
new staff. As you know, the energy sector, oil and gas, is our main area of activity. CLG—
or Centurion before that—was originally a law firm, but over the last five years, our
clients have asked us to offer them something that goes beyond the law. Hence the name
change. Pointe-Noire was a natural choice of location, given the strategic role of the
energy sector in the national and global economy.

Are new partner promotions on the agenda?

Yes, we now have five partners, whereas traditionally, we operated with around three.
In addition, we have a ‘Central Africa’ office where our colleagues in Cameroon,
Equatorial Guinea and Gabon can collaborate and provide services to Congo. As far as
tax services are concerned, we have obtained CEMAC certification. We are now looking
to recruit new staff to expand our team in Pointe-Noire to more than ten lawyers and
advisers. We train and give priority to local profiles.

Perenco, Eni, and TotalEnergies have a strong presence in Congo, among other
countries. Has the new Pointe-Noire office signed any new contracts?

I won’t mention any names, but you mentioned several companies that we continue to
work with. They know about the quality of our expertise, both in terms of advice and
litigation and in terms of assistance with human resources. These examples give an idea
of the clients we target. We also assist the government with regulatory issues, drafting
regulations, and mobilising professionals for one-off projects.

Tell us about the needs of your current customers.

Legal services are at the top of our customers’ list of needs. Companies, especially
multinationals, can only function properly if they comply with local market regulations.
Foreign investors encounter numerous difficulties in the CEMAC zone in terms of
arbitration, availability of foreign currency, opening bank accounts, applicable VAT
regime, etc. Part of our job is also to work with the authorities and regulators to ensure
that clients can operate with complete peace of mind.

Congo is your third market in the CEMAC region. Do you plan to expand in the
region, perhaps in Gabon?

We opened our first subsidiary in Equatorial Guinea around 15 years ago, and since
then, we’ve been doing a lot of business in Cameroon and Gabon. In terms of location,
we’ve had to make some strategic choices. We adopt the following approach: we look at
where the industry is developing, and then we decide, based on that, where to set up. We
saw strong demand from our clients in Congo.

Do you plan to invest in new markets outside the region?

Absolutely, we keep a close watch on all markets. Through the CLG brand and the CLG
Plus network of 300 professionals and tax and legal advisers, we operate in all 54
countries on the continent. It makes sense to have professionals in every country, no
matter how complex the local regulatory framework. For example, we recently hired one
of Namcor’s lawyers in Namibia. We make sure that our multilingual team travels
everywhere. I’m currently travelling a lot to Cameroon, Congo and South Sudan.

The Republic of Congo has great potential in the LNG sector. Is it an interesting
market for CLG?

Indeed, gas is a much more promising sector for the future than oil and whole industries
can be developed thanks to gas, which has a smaller carbon footprint than oil. However,
African countries still need their oil revenues. CLG, therefore, continues to adopt a pro-
energy approach, but we are keeping pace with new technologies. We are, for example,
heavily involved in the carbon capture technologies that are flooding into the continent.
In the last six months, we have signed agreements for this technology in three countries,
for a total of five contracts, which will ensure the continued use of a variety of energy
sources, including coal, particularly in South Africa.

What is your renewable energy strategy? CLG has launched an “energy transition
centre”.

Our specialists have been working on solar and new energies for a long time. While oil
and gas regulations remain stable, many countries are still in the process of developing
new energy regulations. To help them develop their energy mix and introduce clean
energy sources while maintaining their revenues, we are pooling our knowledge at our
centre. CLG is not just made up of lawyers; we also employ economists and traders so we
can provide first-rate advice to the private sector and regulators alike.

CLG recently went public on the Düsseldorf stock exchange under the name
Calvert International. What are your links with Germany, and why this listing?

We were already a company working all over the world, but we are now an international
company focused on Africa. We intend to drive investment into the continent. So, we
were looking to take ourselves to the next level and show that we were capable of
meeting even higher standards of transparency. Being listed on the stock exchange also
offers tax advantages and, of course, the opportunity to raise capital.
 Mota Engil’s offensive in African
mines
In recent months, the Portuguese construction and public works giant has stepped up its direct
investment in mining projects.

09/07/2024 at 16h14, by Africa Business+

Luso Global Mining (LGM) is the subsidiary of the Portuguese engineering and
construction group Mota Engil, which is dedicated to mining exploration and
production. In recent months, LGM has been stepping up its direct investment in mines,
particularly in Africa. Last year, it sold its two mineral sands and rare earths licences in
Malawi for Aus$3.8 million ($2.6 million) to Australian junior Chilwa Minerals, in which
it acquired a 31% stake at the same time. More recently, in July, LGM paid Can$2.58
million ($2.2 million) to become a shareholder in Kobo Resources, a Canadian company
exploring the Kossou gold project in Côte d’Ivoire. At the same time, Mota Engil’s
subsidiary invested in Landore Resources, a junior company developing several gold,
base metals and battery metals projects in Canada.

LGM’s activities are conducted under the leadership of CEO Alexander Shaw. At the
helm of the company since 2020, he previously worked in diamonds in Sierra Leone and
then on the Kansanshi copper mine in Zambia as a senior geologist at First Quantum
Minerals. From 2017 until he arrived at LGM, he followed the Minim Martap bauxite
project in Cameroon as CEO of the operating company Camalco and senior geologist at
its parent company, Canyon Resources.

Acacio Pereira, who has spent his entire career with Mota Engil, is the COO of LGM. An
expert in the African mining sector, he has worked on a number of major projects where
Mota Engil was a subcontractor: the Siguiri gold mine in Guinea (AngloGold Ashanti),
the Moatize coal mine in Mozambique (Vale), and the Kayelekera uranium mine in
Malawi (Paladin).

Miguel Miguens is LGM’s business development manager. He joined the mining

subsidiary in 2020, having previously worked for the Mota Engil group in business
development. He has also worked for GE and Efacec.

The Mota Engil group’s senior executives are also keeping a close eye on LGM’s
developments, led by Manuel Antonio Mota, the group’s deputy managing director and
boss for Africa, from 2016 to 2021. Vivek Dharni, Mota Engil’s head of mergers and
acquisitions in Africa, has also been involved since March. Dharni then returned to Mota
Engil, where he worked from 2015 to 2019, before joining infrastructure
consultancy CPCS and then Rio Tinto, where he managed project finance and African
M&A.
 Trio appointed to reassess the
compensation claimed by the
plaintiffs in ABCI Investments vs
Tunisia
The oldest case of ICSID has once again seen a twist.

09/07/2024 at 16h43, by Africa Business+

In early May, Africa Business+ reported that ABCI Investments Ltd submitted an appeal
for a partial annulment of the award issued by the International Centre for Settlement
of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in its dispute with the Tunisian state. Following the
annulment’s acceptance, a new ad hoc committee was promptly established in
accordance with procedure 52(3) of the Centre’s code. The committee is chaired
by Maxi Scherer from Germany, with members Bertha Cooper-Rousseau from the
Bahamas and Mónica Pinto from Argentina.

The chairman of the administrative council, namely the head of the World Bank Ajay
Banga, must again assess the quantum—i.e. the calculation of damages expected by
ABCI from Tunis—decided last December by the arbitration tribunal. The tribunal was
made up of Bernard Hanotiau, Yves Fortier and Professor Pierre Tercier.

The case has been ongoing for over 30 years and is now centred on the compensation
awarded to ABCI Investments. This compensation is considered to be significantly lower
than what the plaintiff expected after its stake in the Franco-Tunisian bank was
expropriated in 1989. ABCI was expecting up to $12 billion, taking into account the
accumulated interest over the last 30 years. However, the arbitration tribunal deemed
this amount to be excessive and settled for the valuation of the stake in 1989, which
amounted to $111,095.

The decision was a victory for Tunis and a setback for ABCI Investments, which at the
time included Prince Bandar Ibn Khaled Ibn Abdelaziz Al Saoud among its
beneficiaries. This is all the more reason for Jorma Ryynänen, ABCI’s director and legal
representative, to continue the battle.

Ryynänen is being advised in Paris by Geneviève Bastid-Burdeau. At the same time,

Tunisia is being represented by Isabelle Michou, Obioma Ofoego and Ivan-Axel
Doubrava of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, and Amal
Bouchenaki and Lynn Moubarak, both of Herbert Smith Freehills LLP.