About

Legal and strategic intelligence on Africa's mining sector

For law firms, investors, and institutions operating in high-stakes jurisdictions: what is changing, why it matters, and how it affects transactions, disputes, and risk.

Lex Africana Mining Intelligence is a strategy tool designed for professionals active in the African mining sector who need to act on legal and regulatory developments, not just follow them. Each issue identifies the shifts that affect how deals are structured, how disputes emerge, and how states exercise control over mineral assets. It connects regulatory change, transactions, and arbitration into a single, usable picture.

The objective is simple: ensure you see the move early enough to respond to it.

01 — Our approach

Four complementary areas of analysis

Dynamics

Regulatory developments

Analysis of the key regulatory developments shaping the sector, including mining code reforms, local beneficiation policies, local content requirements, and evolving models of state participation.

Anticipate regulatory changes before they affect your agreements
Opportunities

Projects under structuring

Analysis of major projects across the continent — such as Simandou, the Lobito Corridor, and critical minerals initiatives — to identify key stakeholders, legal structures, and entry dynamics.

Identify the right entry points and structuring options
Risks

Legal risk mapping

Jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction risk mapping, based on developments observed across the continent — for example, fiscal tensions in Ghana, export quotas in the DRC, licence revocations in Guinea, and instability in the Sahel.

Assess jurisdiction-specific contractual risks before committing
Arbitration

Investor-State disputes

Monitoring of Investor–State arbitrations before ICSID, the ICC, and other institutions, illustrated by recent cases such as Sundance v. Congo, the Barrick–Mali settlement, and disputes involving Guinea.

Calibrate your dispute strategy in light of recent precedents
02 — Editorial architecture

Designed to support decision-making

Overview

Executive Brief

A concise overview of the key developments, delivered in minutes.

Designed to support investment committee and board discussions
Analysis

Deep Dive

In-depth analysis of a structural issue.

Structure contracts and anticipate regulatory risk
Projects

Deal & Project Intelligence

A structured overview of actionable opportunities.

Supporting sourcing and due diligence processes
Disputes

Arbitration & Dispute Tracker

Ongoing tracking of Investor–State disputes.

Calibrate protection and resolution strategies
Regulation

Regulatory Radar

A jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction tracker, updated on a monthly basis.

Ensures continuous monitoring of key jurisdictions
Expertise

Expert Insight

Contributions from leading practitioners.

Designed to complement internal analysis with field-based insight
03 — Who it's for

For those who operate, structure, or arbitrate

For stakeholders already active in, or entering, the African market who require rigorous, actionable legal intelligence.

01 Law firms and arbitration practitioners
02 Mining companies and extractive operators
03 Investment funds and financial institutions
04 Public institutions and regulators
05 Arbitrators and arbitral institutions
04 — Methodology

Written from the field

Lex Africana Mining Intelligence analyses are prepared by practitioners active in Africa's extractive sector — lawyers, arbitrators, consultants — who are directly involved in the cases they analyse.

Our monitoring systematically covers primary sources: arbitral decisions, legislative reforms, regulatory publications, mining conventions.

A significant portion of this information is not publicly accessible.

African perspective

Analyses produced on the continent by practitioners with in-depth knowledge of local jurisdictions

Primary sources

Arbitral decisions, mining codes, regulatory texts, investment conventions

Practitioner network

Lawyers, arbitrators, and consultants engaged in extractive operations across Africa

Expert Insight
Jean-Baptiste Harelimana

« We are witnessing a shift in the centre of gravity: the challenges facing the African mining sector are no longer solely about access to resources, but about how disputes are structured and resolved. Arbitration is becoming the space where the balance between sovereignty and legal certainty is being concretely redefined. »

Jean-Baptiste Harelimana
Lawyer, President of the African Academy of International Law and Practice