Canada–West Africa
Prepare your projects, safeguard your partnerships.
In an uncertain international environment, West Africa offers new opportunities for Quebec and Canadian businesses seeking to diversify their markets and develop new partnerships.
Aigba supports Canadian businesses looking to participate in projects in West Africa, as well as project proponents in the region seeking Canadian partners. We help you assess a business opportunity, prepare your approach and negotiate your commitments.
Our work focuses in particular on Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Senegal, with close attention to mining and industrial projects.
Define your approach before committing resources
You are considering a partnership, a commercial contract or participation in a project. The first step is to clarify your objective, the parties involved and the information needed to make a decision.
We help you:
- Define the project, your role and the conditions for your participation.
- Organize the available information and the due diligence to be conducted with local counsel and specialists.
- Prepare discussions with commercial, financial and institutional partners, clarifying needs and prospective commitments.
This groundwork can lead to a decision brief and a plan for the next steps, identifying the due diligence and expertise required.
Prepare your response to a tender
You are a Canadian business looking to bid on a project in West Africa. Aigba helps you assess the requirements, prepare questions for clarification and structure your tender submission.
We organize the administrative, legal and commercial documents, your teams’ contributions and the necessary local reviews. The work takes account of the tender deadlines and proposed contractual terms, helping you prepare a response that meets the requirements and reflects your delivery capacity.
Structure and negotiate your agreements
From initial discussions through preparation for performance, we support the drafting and negotiation of confidentiality, partnership, service and supply agreements.
We help you define roles, responsibilities, payment terms and the allocation of risks. Decisions and ongoing commitments are organized with your teams, in coordination with local counsel on matters governed by local law.
A particular focus on mining and industrial projects
In mining, we can help project proponents prepare their materials, while supporting Canadian exploration companies, operators and suppliers as they assess their participation. We organize the information, outstanding questions and contributions needed for the next decisions.
This approach draws notably on Horatio De Medeiros’s experience at Rio Tinto, where he supported the procurement teams of the Simandou project in Guinea in negotiating major contracts. Simandou is Africa’s largest mining and related infrastructure project.
His experience with Investissement Québec and in banking complements this background with an understanding of the financial and institutional dimensions of projects.
A direct point of contact, coordinated expertise
You work directly with Horatio De Medeiros, business lawyer, who defines and coordinates the engagement. Local counsel handles legal and procedural questions in the relevant country. Geological, technical, tax and accounting assessments are entrusted to professionals in those fields according to the project’s needs.
Scope, deliverables, timelines and budget are agreed before the work begins. The engagement can cover a specific stage and continue as the matter progresses.