| Work Detail |
“I believe that as ALSF, we are part of Africa’s transition.”
A corporate lawyer by trade backed with a degree in project finance and structured finance, Olivier Pognon has 12 years of telecom market experience and welcomed the opportunity three years ago to join ALSF as its CEO. He is a Beninese national with 15 years of experience as an international lawyer.
Describing the organisation as a ‘teenager’, with around 14 years of activity, Pognon briefly shares that the African Legal Support Facility’s mandate is to establish sustainable legal capacity on the African continent.
“This means that, among others, we aim to provide African governments with the legal skills they require to negotiate complex commercial contracts.”
To illustrate some of their progressive work, he mentions the assistance provided to countries like Somalia in the debt restructuring process. This helped Somalia achieve the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Completion Point.
“I can also mention our assistance to the Government of Guinea Conakry with a litigation they were involved in against a private investor.”
With the support of the ALSF, the arbitral tribunal awarded the country damages for the prejudices they had suffered.
Pognon proudly draws attention to the ALSF’s involvement in the clean energy space, which includes Africa’s first utility-scale floating solar photovoltaic plant in a marine environment in Seychelles.
“Our involvement is mainly in terms of structuring projects, so from the bidding process to financial close and assisting the government with, as in the case of Somalia, debt restructuring, includes negotiating with creditors for a satisfactory solution.”
Global financial developments underway will require African governments to be better equipped to negotiate improved loan documentation and international aid agreements
While the Facility mainly assists with legal aspects, some situations see them teaming up with financial advisors or technical advisors to give governments more comprehensive assistance covering the pivotal elements at stake in any given project, the CEO explains.
He notes that an essential operational trait of the ALSF is to work with external councils; “law firms are a key stakeholder and a key partner in everything we do.”
In clarifying this, he says that when a government approaches them, the first step is to conduct due diligence to ensure the request is within the ALSF mandate, that the need is authentic, and that the project is ‘ripe’ for assistance.
“We then procure an external law firm from within our panel, and depending on the project’s specificities, we procure a law firm with the credentials to meet the prerequisites to provide assistance. The advisory team will be the ALSF internal team, along with the with the external law firm.”
Keen to discuss the biggest growth potential for Africa, Pognon says the continent’s abundant resources, in terms of critical minerals required for the energy transition, will require African governments to define and structure how they influence this market.
“There’s still a significant deficit in climate resilient infrastructure, and most African governments aim to develop these using PPPs.” He says this is precisely where the ALSF assists; adding that another area of interest is sovereign debt, which has been a top priority for a while.
“Global financial developments underway will require African governments to be better equipped to negotiate improved loan documentation and international aid agreements in the foreseeable future.”
The CEO shares that ALSF recently reached a record number of such requests and will to need to refine its ability to deliver capacity building initiatives.
“We’ll keep on ensuring that the quality of our advisory support allows African governments to be more resilient, benefit from increased investor confidence, and reduce the ‘risk perception’ of the African continent,” states Pognon, who is passionate about advancing the region.
With emphasis on ensuring contracts are fair and equitable, the ALSF CEO advises that, as a starting point, the beneficiary must have a clear sense of what they would like to gain from the transaction.
“The African multilateral banks, such as the AfDB, are making their voice heard, louder and louder.
“This is where capacity building – legal, technical, and financial education – comes into play to help Africa make its case, make its voice heard, and stand as a global power.
“We know what we want to achieve, and I believe that as ALSF, we are part of Africa’s transition.” ESI |
