Africa Practice
Photo by Shane McLendon on Unsplash

Defending against expropriation

A major international mining company faced expropriation in a West African country. Africa Practice was engaged to supply detailed political insights and advisory services to inform our client’s strategic decisions and negotiations with their host government.

Our support included insights into the motivations of key decision-makers in government, in particular in the Ministry of Mines; the decision-making process as well as the government’s mineral policy reform agenda and infrastructure financing strategy; the structure, objectives and likely outcomes of key government negotiations with competitors and financiers; the wider competitive landscape; the government’s relationships with multilateral and bilateral partners; and the national political outlook.

Africa Practice’s source intelligence and advice enabled our client to better understand the political and commercial landscape and strengthen its negotiating position with government as well as its competitive position. Our client was successful in avoiding expropriation and two years later attracted an offer from a global partner to acquire its asset at a competitive market valuation.