Arst Avocats has sealed a strategic partnership with FBC Consulting, a firm specializing in the energy field in Gabon and West Africa

Jean-Flavien Fame, can you introduce yourself?

I graduated from French and American universities in Business Law (Masters in Business Law – Toulouse I University), in Contract Law (DEA in Contract Law – Paris XI-Sceaux University) and in Energy and Energy Law. Environment (LLM in Energy & Environmental Law – University of Connecticut; School of Law).

I have over twenty years of experience in the energy sector (oil and gas) and projects.

Before establishing myself as a Legal Advisor in Gabon in 2017, I worked at Royal Dutch Shell (second largest oil group in the world) in Gabon and Nigeria, as Tax & Legal Advisor, Asset Development Advisor, Contract Manager, Audit & Compliance Manager and Supply Chain Manager.

In addition to this long experience in the oil and gas sector, I also worked in a law firm in Gabon, as Consultant Legal Manager.

I am a member of the Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN ) headquartered in Houston, USA.

What is the profession of FBC Consulting?

FBC Consulting is a legal consultancy firm specializing in contract and energy law. This firm has been in existence for a short time in Gabon but is already fairly well known to the authorities and a good number of economic operators.

Over the past five years and before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, FBC Consulting had the opportunity to support the Gabonese authorities and international organizations in the realization of important projects in Gabon.

Worth mentioning in this sense are the project to draft the current hydrocarbons code, the project to sell the assets of Shell Gabon and Total Gabon, or even the study financed by the World Bank on the development of natural gas in Gabon and the reduction of flaring.

Can you give us the reasons for this partnership with a law firm in France, in this case Arst Avocats?

We wanted, within FBC Consulting, to give a more international dimension to our firm, in particular by creating synergies with a firm that is itself internationally oriented (Arst Avocats is a member of an international network of lawyers), and diversify our fields of intervention. These are the main reasons and ambitions that lead us to enter into this partnership with Arst Avocats, a law firm which intends, as part of its development, to deploy in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.

We wanted, within FBC Consulting, to give a more international dimension to our firm, in particular by creating synergies with a firm that is itself internationally oriented.

What are the challenges to be met today in Gabon and more generally in sub-Saharan Africa through such a partnership?

The main challenge facing the world today is undoubtedly the decarbonisation of the economy; clearly, the transition from an economy based on the use of fossil fuels to a green economy; clean economy in which most of the energy used will come from renewable energies. Anything that aims to fight against global warming and more broadly to preserve the environment, this common good which we have inherited from mother nature and which we must bequeath in "good condition" to future generations.

Africa, and in particular Gabon, have embraced this cause and need to benefit from adequate support in this long process of energy transition. Our ambition is to position ourselves as a benchmark firm and ultimately play an important role in this support, both because it is our job and because it corresponds with our values ​​and ambitions as human beings.

What are the next steps or concretizations of this partnership?

We have many ideas and opportunities are already arising, some of our respective interlocutors having clearly understood the interest of collaborating with a firm that is well established locally and can count on very complementary skills at European or even global level through its own partnerships.

We are considering the organization of an event concerning the legal issues of certain potential energy projects in Gabon and even in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We hope to be able to realize such a project quickly.