OMR (Online Marketing Rockstars) announced the establishment and operation of a new vaccination centre located in Hamburg, set to be the biggest such centre in Germany. Blomstein and Weisner Partner advised OMR on the deal.

OMR, primarily an organiser of large-scale festivals and fairs, is currently responsible for handling all operations in Hamburg’s only vaccination centre. Among other things, OMR is coordinating all service offers and the work of the security companies involved.

The Blomstein team included partner Roland M Stein and associate Leonard von Rummel.

The Weisner Partner team was led by Dominik Heimberg.

Hydro66 Holdings Corp. (CSE: SIX) (the “Company” or “Hydro66“) announced the Company entered into a letter of intent for the sale of its assets including the Data Center in Sweden held in Hydro66 UK Limited and its subsidiaries, Hydro Svenska and Hydro Svenska Services, to Northern Data AG (“Northern Data“) (XETRA: NB2) for €4m in cash and €21m in shares of Northern Data. The shares to be received in connection with the proposed transaction will be subject to resale restrictions for a 24 month period following the completion of the proposed transaction. Hydro66 will retain its Megamining Limited subsidiary.

David Rowe, CEO of Hydro66, said, “Incorporating Hydro66’s assets, expertise and expansion capability into Northern Data’s plans is a win for both parties. Aroosh continues to create huge value for Northern Data shareholders through a series of astute moves and I believe this proposed transaction will benefit both parties in delivering shareholder value.”

STUDIO QUANTA – Commercialisti Associati assisted Taglini Group Srl in the acquisition by Gualapack S.p.A. of its majority share, in order to complete the transfer of the control share of Easysnap Technology Srl, a worldwide renowned single-dose packaging company. The investment aims to accelerate its international growth, complete the innovation process and improve its commitment to sustainability. Andrea Taglini will retain his role as CEO of EasySnap Technology.

Studio Quanta staff, especially Dr Carlo Barbolini Cionini, M&A specialist Partner, supported the ownership of Taglini Group Srl during the negotiation and in the identification of contractual, corporate and tax instruments suitable to match the different needs of the companies.

NCTM advised Gualapack with a team including Pietro Zanoni, who advised on Corporate and M&A matters.

Sinergie - Tax Legal Strategy assisted EDN Group, a global manufacturer of on-board chargers and power converters for electric and hybrid vehicles, in the sale of 80% of its share capital to MTA , a multinational manufacturer of electrical and electronic products for the automotive sector.

Sinergie supported EDN in the execution of the transaction with a team composed of managing partner Gianluca Bettelli with the support of junior associate Michele De Musis for the M&A aspects and counsel Roberto Muroni as financial adviser.

A consortium comprising Brazilian logistics company Ecorodovias Concessões e Serviços and global asset manager GLP, acting through its related company GLP X Participações, has won the international tender for the concession of the BR-153 / TO / GO toll road for a period of 35 years by submitting an offer for $59.6 million (320 million reais as of the time of submission). The consortium’s bid won out over local infrastructure concessionaire CCR.

The auction was organised by the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) and the Ministry of Infrastructure. The awarded road has an extension of 850.7 kilometres and connects Aliança do Tocantins in the northern Brazilian state of Tocantins, and Anápolis in the state of Goiás in the centre-west of the country, and is considered an important route for cargo transportation. Over 13 billion reais is projected to be invested in the road and its infrastructure.

Paris-based data centre operator DATA4 has raised a record €620 million in debt financing. The DATA4 Group now has access to almost €1 billion to fund and execute its 2024 growth plan, with the aim of doubling its turnover in five years and becoming one of the European leaders in the data centre market.

The financing was secured from three banks: Deutsche Bank, Société Générale and SMBC. These additional resources will enable the Group to accelerate its responsible growth strategy throughout Europe – which involves doubling the power capacity of its Paris campus from 100MW to 200MW – making it the most powerful data centre campus in Europe. DATA4 also aims to significantly develop the number of data centres on its current campuses located in France (Marcoussis), Italy (Milan), and Spain (Madrid), and to expand into Central Europe and Scandinavia.

An Interview With Linklaters, Legal Advisers to DATA4 Group

How long has your firm been working with the DATA4 Group?

We have been working on the asset for almost ten years, having particularly advised AXA IM Real Assets at the occasion of its entry to the share capital of DATA4 in 2012 and, more recently, on the acquisition by AXA IM Real Assets of the entire share capital from Funds managed by Colony Capital in 2018. This transaction was led by Nicolas Le Guillou (M&A Paris), Edouard Chapellier (Tax, Paris), Nicolas Gauzès (M&A Luxembourg) and Melinda Perera (Capital Markets and Banking Luxembourg).

We have been delighted to continue following the history of the Group within the context of this important step in the company’s development (as stated by the CEO of DATA4) with the €620 million in debt financing, on which our firm has been assisting the Group. The team was led by Melinda Perera as a matter of Luxembourg law alongside De Pardieu Brocas Maffei as a matter of French law, with a team led by Yannick le Gall (Real Estate Finance).

Our Paris M&A team, led by Nicolas Le Guillou and Jacques Mazé, has assisted the Group in parallel on the Group’s presentations to lenders to facilitate their understanding of the Group legal structure.

What expertise did your team bring to the table?

Given our longstanding relationship with DATA4 Group, we combine a deep knowledge of the objectives, needs and constraints of the Group with our legal expertise.

What issues have the potential to arise when advising a company on a case like this?

Given the magnitude of the borrowing (€620 million) with Deutsche Bank, Société Générale and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, it was key to find the right balance between the strategic objectives and investment expansion targeted by the DATA4 Group in Europe and the contractual terms of the financing documents, including the security package in favour of the external lenders.

NANO-X IMAGING LTD (NASDAQ: NNOX) (“Nanox” or the “Company”), an innovative medical imaging technology company, announced the commencement of a proposed underwritten public offering of 2,891,322 of its ordinary shares by certain non-officer, non-director shareholders (the “selling shareholders”).

Nanox is not selling any shares and will not receive any proceeds from the sale of its ordinary shares being offered by the selling shareholders. The proposed offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering.

Cantor Fitzgerald & Co and Oppenheimer & Co are acting as joint lead book-running managers for the offering. BTIG and Berenberg are acting as joint lead managers and Ladenburg Thalmann & Co Inc and LifeSci Capital are acting as co-managers for the offering.

Partners Udi Arad and Daniel Sekel and Associate Dvir Uziel of Agmon & Co Rosenberg Hacohen & Co Law Firm’s Commercial department represented Cantor Fitzgerald & Co and several other underwriters as their Israeli counsel.

An Interview With Ehud (Udi) Arad (udi@agmon-law.co.il), Partner & Notary at Agmon & Co. Rosenberg Hachoen & Co.

What complications can arise during a public offering like this one?

From a legal perspective, there were two major complications that had to be dealt with in this offering. The first related to the need to obtain the proper corporate approvals to allow the offering pursuant to the Israeli Companies Law. The second related to the need to put in place proper legal mechanisms which were aimed at allowing a large number of pre-IPO, non-officer, non-director shareholders to decide whether and to what extent they wish to participate, and if they so wish, to enable them to do so. Both were challenging. The first, in view of the Company’s Board decision that it would be beneficial to the Company to start the process before expiry of existing lock-up undertakings from the Company’s IPO and that at such time external directors were not yet nominated. The second, in view of there being a large number (>120) of shareholders from numerous jurisdictions.

How do you work with your clients to avoid them?

The main issue is to do a proper and bold analysis of the legal risks and complications involved. Once done, and as exemplified also in this offering, with good and fruitful cooperation between all concerned and innovative and straightforward thinking these and other complications were overcome.

What financial risks are underwriters often concerned about in such a deal?

One of the financial risks that had to be resolved in this offering was the need to cater for withholding tax issues under Israeli law related to the sale by the selling shareholders in the offering. This is a risk that sometimes is overlooked and requires scrutiny and putting in place proper mechanisms to avoid it.

About Agmon & Co. Rosenberg Hachoen & Co.

The firm is a powerhouse in the Israeli legal market with an increasingly prominent role in the country’s largest and most significant M&A and commercial transactions.  We represent Israel’s business and economic elite across various industries. Our clients include Israel’s most prominent banks, credit companies, energy corporations, telecommunications and pharmaceuticals companies, industrial conglomerates and entrepreneurs and investors.

The firm delivers an innovative, forward-thinking approach, across the full spectrum of legal services, including M&A’s, international and domestic capital markets, banking, finance, commercial litigation, hi-tech, energy and infrastructure, real estate, antitrust and other regulatory areas. Agmon is consistently ranked top tier in its core areas by domestic and international independent legal guides.

ASAR – Al Ruwayeh & Partners (ASAR) acted as Kuwaiti legal counsel to the consortium of WTE Wassertechnik GmbH (WTE) and International Financial Advisors Holding KSCP, who were awarded the Umm Al Hayman Wastewater Treatment Plant PPP Project in Kuwait.

The Umm Al Hayman Wastewater Treatment Plant Project consists of the construction of a new sewage treatment plant within the boundaries of the current Umm Al-Hayman water purification plant and which will utilise the latest wastewater treatment technology. WTE, as the main contractor, will be responsible for the design and construction of the sewage treatment plant with a contract value of approximately $719 million. With an estimated total construction cost of approximately USD 1.8 billion (excluding financing and operating costs), the Umm Al Hayman Wastewater Treatment Plant Project will be one of the world’s largest and most complex water treatment projects.

The ASAR team comprised Ibrahim Sattout (Partner), Mohammed Abulwafa (Partner), Akusa Batwala (Partner), Dania Dib (Senior Associate), and Talal Bijjani (Senior Associate) along with other associates in the firm.

An Interview With Ibrahim Sattout, Partner at Al Ruawayeh & Partners

What challenges arose as you worked on this deal? How did you navigate them?

The project structure combines both the build, operate and transfer system and the design, build and operate system in one project agreement, creating unique interface challenges for the sponsors, the lenders and legal counsels in terms of contractual structuring, documentation and financing.

In addition, this is the first PPP project to be procured under the PPP Law in Kuwait with untested procurement and tendering process, not to mention the new Capital Markets Authority and the Companies Laws which recently came into play.

Also, financial close was delayed due to COVID-19 and we had to deal with various complications which resulted from the effects of the pandemic, including rescheduling the financial close, reallocation of certain risks, finalising and perfecting the security package, etc.

Why is this a good deal for all parties concerned?

The project has numerous benefits. This is a great opportunity for the Kuwaiti government to develop the plant and expand its capacity and its pipelines and pumping stations networks, given the population growth in Kuwait. The plant will be also a great source of water to be used for irrigation. It is also a long-term investment for WTE with a 25-year operation term, with a possible expansion from 500,000 cubic metres/day to 700,000 cubic metres/day.

What precedents does this set for future PPP projects in Kuwait?

This project sets numerous precedents in terms of the documentation, structuring, procuring and financing of PPP projects in Kuwait. Of note, the corporate structure utilised is unprecedented for a project financing of this sort. In addition, one of the main innovations is the security package provided by the project company and the successful bidders, which is one of the first developed under the new PPP law.

Also, a number of new provisions of various laws came into play including the new financing regime under the PPP Law, the new regulations of the Capital Markets Authority and the amended Companies Law.

This project therefore sets a precedent in the implementation of PPP projects, and I believe it will influence future PPP projects in Kuwait and probably in the rest of the GCC.

Lourdes Fuentes Slater is the Founder and CEO of Karta Legal. A veteran litigator and a pioneer in digital transformation, she has a long list of achievements in legal process improvement and the adoption of technology solutions to innovate the delivery of legal services. This month, we have the pleasure to speak with her. Despite the accelerating pace of innovation in legal technology, lawyers have been slow to embrace tools that could greatly improve their productivity and add value to their clients. A new approach is needed to help lawyers remain competitive and, importantly, comply with their ethical and professional duties of competent and efficient representation. A trained Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and described by the New York Law Journal as "truly an agent of change”, Lourdes shares her thoughts on innovation and how the sector can be transformed.

Legal technology has made great strides in the past decade. How has the implementation of these new tools benefited legal project management?

You have to separate two things here. Yes, legal technology investment and available tech solutions for legal are at an all-time high. In 2018, tech investment experienced a growth of 713%. 2019 set another record with $1.23 billion invested by the third quarter of 2019. But the adoption of legal technology, generally speaking, has been incredibly slow, and even when new technology is implemented it is used at 50% or less capacity. Innovation in legal has certainly been a lot slower than in other industries, despite being constantly top-of-mind. In fact, I recently came across a PWC survey that highlights the industries that focus on "breakthrough innovation,” but shockingly, legal was not in it.

The obvious question is: why is it so hard to motivate lawyers to do something they have the ability to do? Psychologists will tell you that the answer is simple. Motivation is intertwined with reward value. And reward value, in turn, is deeply influenced by past experience. An important consequence of this biological fact is that new behaviours are rarely as motivating as existing ones that have previously been rewarded. This is a fundamental problem for those wanting to innovate the practice of law.

Meaningful adoption of legal technology solutions has been incredibly slow. Innovation initiatives fail approximately 70% of the time and even when new technology is implemented it is used at 50% or less capacity.

I want to take a minute here to address the question about legal project management and highlight something that I think is very important. Due to economic pressures, the 2008 recession triggered the rise of legal project management as its own separate field in legal. In my opinion, the 2020 pandemic and the transformational changes in the way we practice law - have triggered the rise in legal process improvement as a legal career path in and of itself. Those of us selling process improvement as a separate service are now in more demand than ever, and I do not see that changing because I believe the tippling point for legal innovation is now. As I explain below, the pandemic has us poised for finally making those great strides.

Which areas of legal practice have seen especially strong returns from the adoption of specialised legal tech?

Data security and privacy compliance tools are two must-have that pay off in dividends. Collaboration and project management tools can streamline processes internally and externally and cut down waste significantly. The pandemic saw the rise in video conferencing, remote hearings and depositions, which have proven to be great ways to save money and time. Same goes for e-signing. These tools have been there for years, but it took the pandemic for legal to embrace them fast and furiously, which shows it can be done!

In contrast, what areas have yet to see improvement, and how can they be brought up to speed?

Well, where do I start? With some notable exceptions, very few law firms and legal departments, private and public, are at advanced or mature stages of legal technology acquisition, adoption, and implementation. Most companies regardless of size are in the underdeveloped or foundational stages. Part of my job is to assess the maturity level of a company and prepare a prioritised legal technology roadmap, which can be done only by working hand-in-hand with an internal cross-functional team. The needs and priorities vary greatly by individual organisation, which is crucial not to forget.

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Also, as a process expert, I am a big proponent of bite-size innovation. If you want to gather a few takeaways from this interview, let this be the first one: digital innovation is a process. Think of it as a big project full of mini projects that have been properly prioritised and mapped out after a holistic assessment of your current capabilities, technology and needs. The second takeaway is that innovation has a compounding effect and grows exponentially, which is why it is so important to start innovating.

If your question is: “which solutions will promote quick gains and efficiencies right now”, my first recommendation would be to focus on the “efficiency boosters,” including business process management tools and robotic process automation. We can bring these tools to bear in any organisation today and you will see a positive ROI within a few months of implementation. I was pleased to see a recent report from the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium showing that 71% of legal teams have identified the automation of legal processes as a high priority.

A 2019 study found that only slightly more than half (53%) of lawyers in the US and Europe said their organisations intended to increase investment in legal tech. Why do you think firms are reluctant to adopt new technologies?

Change is hard. Elliot T Berkman PhD wrote a good article on the subject of neuroscience and behavioural change last year in the Consulting Psychology Journal. He points out that any human change in behaviour requires “the will” and “the way”. Let’s look at these in the context of legal innovation.

The “will” is the “why” of behaviour change. You can call it the business case. In contrast, the “way” refers to the cognitive and informational aspects of behaviour change. The “way” is the “how” to change. How are you going to innovate your practice? Where do you start? What skills and capabilities are required? Do you have a process map ready? Law schools and training in law firms have not provided lawyers with the skills to find the way.

Moreover, learning new skills and gathering the data needed to transform law practice and the delivery of legal services requires executive function as that term is used in neuroscience. That means that learning something new demands conscious attention. To truly be successful, time, energy, and focus need to be deployed in finding “the way”. Of course, this means there is an opportunity cost of deploying the path to finding “the way”. For attorneys, this is significant because it takes time away from billable work, meeting deadlines, preparing for a pitch, writing briefs, etc. Opportunity cost is possibly the biggest challenge we have as legal professionals in trying to innovate the industry. For lawyers, time is money, and as an industry we have not placed a lot of value in legal process innovation. This is where great leadership makes it or breaks it when it comes down to it.

What can firms and in-house legal teams do to overcome this reticence?

Innovation theory explains that for any successful innovation to take hold you need the perfect confluence of these three factors:

1. Human desire
2. Tech feasibility
3. Market factors

The tech feasibility has been here for years. What we have lacked as an industry are 1 and 3. Outside events, like the pandemic, trigger those two events to happen quicker than we, the evangelists, are able to do ourselves. That is why I view 2020 as the tipping point for legal innovation. But I do want to stress that even before pandemic, I and many others have been pointing out that there are other market factors, such as regulatory reform, the Big Four and alternative legal services providers, that were threatening the traditional law practice models.

The hardest challenge to overcome has been – and still is – the human factor. Nobody likes change, law is deeply rooted in tradition, it is still being managed by Generation X, and the billable hour is still queen, just to mention a few human factors at play here. So, to overcome reticence, I am a big proponent of deliberately working on a culture change and being intentional about a mind shift. This requires time and effort on an extraneous concept: change management. Both are foreign concepts in traditional law. We need training and workshops on how to view law as a business in a way we have not before, and we need leaders to invest in upskilling their teams in change management methodologies and process improvement techniques. And frequently, it requires outside consultants like me to guide the internal team in a digital transformation journey by facilitating the change management piece.

The hardest challenge to overcome has been – and still is – the human factor.

From what you have seen, how far has the COVID-19 pandemic led to renewed interest among legal firms to mend their outdated tools and processes?

As I stated before, we have made some quick basic gains (video conferencing, e-signatures, collaboration tools). I think contract management tools have also made huge gains because of the pandemic. But there is still a long way to go.

An ancillary point, but one that will bring faster innovation to bear, is the renewed interest in hiring heads of legal operations. Right now, between 25 and 55% of all legal departments regardless of size have at least one legal operations person onboard. The point of legal operations is to carry out the business of law, leaving your lawyers to practice law. That is of course much easier said than done, so please keep in mind that legal operations can transform the practice of law only if they have the experience, the background (the perfect combination of lawyer, technologist and business process person is ideal) and the gravitas needed so that everyone else embraces her/his ideas. This takes me back to the importance of leadership in fostering culture change and change management.

Is there an area of legal tech (AI, cloud, etc) with development potential that you feel particularly optimistic about?

I am optimistic that our long-term relationship with e-discovery tools will continue to flourish with the use of AI and analytics to not only cull documents, but to review documents for production. Page-by-page digital review of documents is outdated, error-prone, time-consuming and costly, and it is remarkable how many people still follow that process. I also think AI will make great progress in contract review and life-cycle management, and data mining. And, as I mentioned before, I am of the view that all networks should be cloud-based, and that BPA and RPA are must-have tools.

But I am mostly optimistic not about technology but about approaching innovation the right way. Research indicates that over 70% of all change management initiatives or innovations fail and almost in every single case the main reason for that failure is the lack of leadership and human interaction with the innovation, and the lack of willingness to change. Therefore, it is so important to have or work with change management and process experts.

About Lourdes Fuentes Slater 

What can you tell us about your journey into law?

I am a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a litigator by training. In addition to being a partner at a litigation firm in New York City, two years ago I founded a legal operations and technology management consulting firm with a focus on design thinking and process improvement.

I have had a long career, litigating in state and federal courts across the USA and in international arbitrations. My detour from courtroom to tech-room happened seamlessly. Unlikely the vast majority of my colleagues, I was drawn to the field that was to become e-discovery. I was at the forefront of that critical path that merged IT, litigation support, technology, and the law. The idea of providing immediate value by creating workflows to improve an obsolete process (manual document review) using technology was genius. E-discovery is an early example of legal innovation. As an aside, I know “innovation” sounds like a buzzword. It is not. Innovation is the act or process of introducing new ideas, devices or methods.

Early on I realised that to deliver legal services to my clients in the most cost effective and efficient manner, I needed skills I did not learn in law school or as a practicing lawyer, and I became a legal project manager and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. For those not familiar, Lean Six Sigma is a team-oriented data driven approach to process improvement focused on delivering value to the client. Those skills and my background have been crucial to my work in managing technology projects, logistics, data and discovery in two of the most complex and data intensive matters of the last decade, the Madoff Trustee and the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities litigations.

I know “innovation” sounds like a buzzword. It is not. Innovation is the act or process of introducing new ideas, devices or methods.

How does your firm reflect your professional outlook?

Karta Legal is a legal operations and management consulting firm. The genesis of Karta Legal was my desire to push forward team, process, and technology innovation and change management. We have a team of lawyers, process experts, and legal technologists working with legal departments and law firms of all sizes to innovate the practice of law, and we have a roster of vetted and tested partners to help us deliver the best for a successful digital transformation – because we understand the theory behind change management itself. We are unique in the method we deliver our services, focusing not on technology but on change management and process improvement. We use curated design thinking, Lean Six Sigma, and Agile project management tools and techniques tailored to the management of the business of law and legal processes. By doing this, the success of any innovation initiative is optimised. This approach also maximises efficiencies, resulting in significant savings in resources.

In 2021, the National Law Journal selected Karta Legal LLC as a Legal Technology Trailblazer. Very few companies get recognized as a Trailblazer and the fact that our young company was selected among a choice of titans is a testament to our innovative approach to legal technology innovation. Not only was the award meaningful for this recognition, but also because Karta Legal LLC was the only woman and minority business enterprise to be given this prestigious award. Moreover, to my knowledge, we are the only 100% minority- and woman-owned consultancy in this field. While I cannot say I am proud of being the only one, I am proud of being a role model for other women and minorities in this space because you cannot be what you cannot see.

What personal goals do you have for yourself and your organisations in the second half of 2021 and beyond?

We will continue to provide individual consulting services to our law firms and legal department clients on change management, process improvement, and legal technology acquisition. After an initial assessment, we create a prioritised legal technology road map that works for the individual client. This is not a one-size-fits-all approach, so the right considerations must be given to the work and processes being delivered by each individual client. Also, as we have done since our inception, we will continue our due diligence to find the best solutions in the market for the needs of the legal buyer. We vet and test these solutions, and we form valuable partnerships with legal vendors in the ecosystem to be able to deliver value.

Moreover, there are two initiatives this year that we are particularly excited about. The first is that our Karta Online Campus is now open and accepting enrolment from all legal professionals, not just lawyers! We provide certifications in change management and Legal Lean Six Sigma. Applied to legal services, LSS can quickly and favourably impact the bottom-line in cost and time savings. The legal industry is entering a new period of people, process, and technology innovation. We believe that by up-skilling your team and giving them tools to tackle legal innovation effectively and efficiently, you will be able to deliver unparalleled services and value to your clients.

Also, our Karta Staffing company is now accepting applications for lawyers, project managers and process experts interested in temporary work assignments. Our staffing company is incorporated in Puerto Rico and serves Mainland USA and LatAm with a workforce that is expertly qualified and trained, fluent in both Spanish and English. We offer unparalleled global services at a lower cost point with an emphasis on security, speediness, and efficiency.

Lourdes Fuentes Slater, Founder and CEO

Karta Legal LLC

Address: 950 Third Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10022

Tel: 212 897 9500

Email: lslater@kartalegal.com

Website: https://www.kartalegal.com/

Karta Legal is a legal operations and management consulting firm founded in 2019. Through a combination of training and expertise in technology and processes, Karta works with firms and legal departments of all sizes to innovate the practice of law. Despite its relative youth, Karta’s work has been recognised by the National Law Journal as a Legal Technology Trailblazer – the first minority- and woman-owned firm to have received this accolade.

Lourdes Fuentes Slater is the founder and CEO of Karta Legal. A Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and legal project manager, Lourdes is committed to legal process improvement, described by the New York Law Journal as “truly an agent of change”. She is also a sought-after speaker on process improvement, legal technology, privacy, artificial intelligence, diversity & inclusion and e-discovery issues.

Following decades of economic instability due to fiscal mismanagement, corruption and conflict, the government of the DRC implemented economic reforms. What were these reforms?

During the period 2001 to 2014, a series of institutional reforms were undertaken by the government administrations, supported by economic reforms that had the implementation of the country’s global development goals as their foundation.

These reforms were structural and were accompanied by infrastructure programmes, the strengthening of the banking system, and the improvement of governance, which led to the reform of state-owned companies and the liberalisation of the energy and insurance markets.

These liberalisations have led to a change in legislation. In this context, we can cite the mining code in 2001 – which has been amended to date – the investment code with the creation of the National Agency for the Promotion of Investments, the law on energy, the hydrocarbons code, the insurance code, the new business law (OHADA law), the law on telecommunications, the law against money laundering and terrorist financing and the creation of dedicated agencies, the law on subcontracting, and others besides.

Did these laws have an impact on attracting commercial activity?

There has been a definite impact as a result of changes in legislation, especially on business law. The creation of companies has become flexible, which has encouraged the creation of new businesses, and net banking and a competitive market have developed following the strengthening of the banking system.

There has been a definite impact as a result of changes in legislation, especially on business law.

GDRC efforts from 2001 to 2014 yielded some improvement, but a drop in commodity prices in 2015 has resulted in significant economic instability yet again. How have things progressed since?

After the instability of 2015, there was an economic rebound with a double-digit growth rate. However, there was a slowdown following the political instability which calmed down after the elections and the handover of power between the elected president and the outgoing one. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which put a damper on things.

Now, the government is making efforts to ensure that the recovery is effective with or without COVID-19.

What current challenges are commercial businesses facing in the DRC?

The pandemic is the new challenge for doing business, and the traditional challenges of corruption, development of news solutions and price stability yet remain.

What should businesses be doing to see these challenges through?

Companies in the DRC must reinvent themselves and propose new solutions to get out of the pandemic, and then they must take advantage of the legal tools that have been set up (including new laws and the liberalisation of economic sectors such as insurances, energy, telecommunications and new technologies) to help them thrive in a market of more than 80 million consumers. With the presence of countries such as the States of the European Union, Asia (China, Japan, AUE and others), the African countries, the USA and Great Britain, we are rethinking the tools to facilitate exchanges by re-launching the chambers of commerce.

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Liliane Mubanga, Senior Executive

Thambwe-Mwamba & Associés

Address: 364, Blvd du 30 juin, Im. Kiyo ya Sita, 6th floor, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Tel: (+243) 817 100 018

Email: cabinet@thambwe.com

Thambwe-Mwamba & Associés is a law firm based in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its lawyers work in a human-sized unit to better serve their clients across a range of sectors including banking, general trade, construction, mining and the hotel industry. The firm covers legal advice in various areas of law, but especially in business; they specialise in creation of companies, drafting of deeds, special contracts and due diligence. Thambwe-Mwamba’s team synergise their skills to master a broad range of areas of law, covering all traditional legal services and continually building upon their knowledge base across multiple disciplines. The firm combines its ever-deepening expertise with an ability to build personal relationships with clients and pursue the best possible outcome for their needs.

Liliane Mubanga

I am a lawyer registered at the Bar of Kinshasa/Gombe in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I have been a member of the Bar Council of the said Bar for a term of four years. I am a member of the law firm Thambwe-Mwamba & Associés, where I am the Senior Executive. I am also the Mining and Quarrying attorney with the senior partner, Maître Alexis Thambwe-Mwamba.