Q&A | Oliver Barker-Vormawor | Corporate

My name is Oliver Baka VMA. I am a senior partner at Metton and Everett LLP in Ghana where I lead our firm’s work in mergers and acquisitions, project and development finance, corporate transactions, regulatory advice, and legislative and government relations consulting.

generally my practice sits at the intersection of law, finance and public policy. I would say advised governments development institutions, private equity funds, infrastructure sponsors and many multinational companies on complex cross-border transactions particularly in infrastructure, energy, natural resources, financial services and telecommunications.

Now a significant part of my work involves structuring debt and equity financings, blended finance vehicles and large scale investment platforms in emerging and frontier markets and as importantly or perhaps most importantly lobbying and obtaining high level governmental and regulatory approvals.

I also have deep expertise in in sovereigny and restructuring, corporate governance and regulatory risk and I’m frequently engaged as an expert in international arbitration especially in disputes involving sovereigns and high value investments. Now alongside the transactional side of my work I have a strong legislative and policy drafting background. I have led I have led the development of legislation regulatory frameworks across several African jurisdictions such in various sectors such as mining petroleum financial services environment protection and the digital economy.

Now before returning to practice in in in Africa, I worked with Covent and Berlin in the United States one of the largest law firms in the world where advise fortune 500 companies on investments in Africa working on international trade disputes and other international arbitration matters and I believe that that experience continues to shape my approach my very global outlook and which is grounded in the in the realities of doing business and investing in in in Africa.

So in summary my my specialism is helping clients structure and execute complex investments, manage regulatory political risk and navigate the legal and governance frameworks that underpin development and cross-border transactions. Generally I would say what makes our service offering distinctive is that we combine top tier transactional capability with deep public sector and regulatory insight. many of the markets we work in are highly regulated and politically sensitive. So I believe clients are not just looking for a lawyer to execute a deal. They need a

strategic adviser who understands our law, policy, finance and government decision-m interacting practice and we bring an integrated approach to this. you know we’ve worked in inside international institutions advised governments on legislation and policy and represented private investors and development finance institutions on complex transactions.

That means that we able to anticipate regulatory concerns structure around political and and sovereign risk and then design transactions that are both bankable and implementable in the in the local context. Now another key feature is that our work is genuinely cross body and multi-disiplinary which means we regulate coordinate we regulate we regularly coordinate finances technical advisers compliance teams and public stakeholders across different different jurisdictions now and I’m very focused on creating structures that remain stable over over the long term particularly for infrastructure and blended finance

projects now through the firm met and We also offer something that is relatively rare in our market which is a seamless link between high value corporate and finance work and legislative and governance relation support. So if a project requires regulatory reform, a new licensing framework or engagement with state institutions, we are able to support that process from from design through implementation.

And then finally, I would say our clients value the fact that we operate at international standards. While being deeply rooted in the African legal and business environment, we understand the commercial realities on the ground and we’re able to translate global capital into structures that work really well locally.

My my work is largely centered on complex high value matters that have cross-border or reg regulatory dimension. now on the transactional side I typically ask for development finance institutions you know as I’ve said sovereign backed investment vehicles and and multinational corporations.

Now these engagements usually involve private finance structured lending budget and acquisitions blended finance platforms and large scale equity investments. and they cut across all sectors you know energy and renewables telecommunications natural resources agri business and and financial services. I also advise governments and public agencies you know especially in relation to to regulatory design the kind of investment frameworks and investment structuring and and PPPs public private partnerships.

Now that work often sits in the background of major projects but it is critical because it creates the the legal and policy environment that allows capital to flow and transactions to close which is what our our clients appreciate more generally I’ll say but I’m also involved on the dispute side on the dispute size I’m frequently engaged in international arbitration investment related matters either as council advisor or expect witness now these tend to be high stakes cases including expropriation claims shareholder and investment disputes complex commercial transactions and

litigation often with a sovereign or public interest element you know in addition through the firm’s work I act in major corporate and governance disputes we have handled fraud and asset tracing cases restructuring situations and shareholder conflicts particularly where there are multiple investors or layered you know finance structures So I would say the common tread across our clients is that they’re operating in sophisticated capital intensive environments and they need legal support that is commercially driven internationally credible and and I find increasingly people are

looking for for work that is grounded in a strong understanding of African markets and and institutions. I have been really fortunate to work across a number of matters that sits at the at the highest level of of both international law and complex commercial practice. early in my career I served at the international court of justice where I worked on several landmark cases involving maritime delimitation, state immunity, use of force, treating interpretation.

and I would say that experience gave me a very strong foundation in public international law in how states approach legal risk and disputes dispute resolution. I was also involved at different stages in in major state-to-state and global trade disputes including WTO proceedings and sovereign arbitration.

more more recently have been engaged as expert witness in in high value investment arbitration including a 300 million US dollar expropriation claim against the government of Ghana. So being trusted by partners and tribunals to provide expert evidence and in those matters is something I consider a significant professional milestone in many ways.

as as regards the transactional side I have led or advised on a large number of innovative financings across across the continent in Africa. These include a structuring of 5 billion USD long-term sovereign backed infrastructure and telecom telecommunications investment platform in in in different countries a 225 million USD telecommunications expansion involving multiple regional and international investors and several project finance and bled finance facilities through involving development finance institution and commercial banks Another area I consider a major achievement is my legislative and policy

work. I’ve led a drafting of a a very substantial number of you know legislations, legislative instruments and regulatory frameworks across different African countries in sectors ranging particularly from mining, petroleum, financial services, environmental regulation and digital economy. And all of this work I think have shaped how several industries are able to engage and do business on the continent.

And finally, what I’m very proud of is the work we’re doing at Metton and Everett, which is building a firm that is able to operate at the intersection of high value corporate work, sovereign advisory, complex disputes while remaining deeply rooted in African markets. This is something I am particularly proud of. For me the highlight is not just the individual deals or cases that we’re able to work on but also the ability to move seamlessly between you know global capital governments local institutions and help make complex projects and legal

frameworks actually work in practice. for me and the firm joining global lawyers was a very deliberate decision. our practice is inherently cross-border. We work with investors you know governments and multinational multinational companies that are active in multiple jurisdictions at the same time. So being part of a network that brings together leading specialists from around the world creates a trusted platform through which we can support those clients seamlessly and at a consistently high standard. So what particularly attracted me to global law

experts is the emphasis on genuine expertise and thought leadership rather than simply geographic coverage. the work I do often requires collaboration. So whether that’s in structuring complex financing or handling disputes that span several countries. And so having access to a network of reg recognized experts in their respective fields I think significantly strengthens the solutions we can offer to to our clients.

It is also important I would say to contribute an African perspective to global transactions and disputes. a large amount of capital is is is now deployed into to Africa and there’s a growing need for for investors for for advisers especially who understand how international best practice and the realities of operating on the on the ground works and this platform through this platform I am able to to to support inbound investors into Africa you know colleagues in other jurisdictions are able to reach out and

be able to assist clients that intend to to expand internationally. So I see it as a two-way knowledge exchange. the network allows us to share our insights on emerging trends, regulatory developments and innovation, innovative structures which is increasingly important in a world that is that is more and more interconnected and and we are also able to gain on and leverage on on the knowledge and experiences of colleagues on in in many jurisdictions around the world.

So in essence I think I mean join this platform because it enhances our ability to deliver sophisticated cross-border solutions to clients while allowing us to be part of a community of of practitioners who are shaping the future of international legal practices.