Olivier Pognon

Director and CEO African Legal Support Facility

Olivier, a citizen of Benin joined the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) in October 2021, having spent the bulk of his career in the private sector, respectively as Chief Legal Counsel and Senior Legal Counsel in the telecommunications industry (2010-2021); as legal counsel at Agence Française de Développement (2008-2009); and as an associate lawyer specializing in corporate law and project finance, respectively at EY Law, CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre and Mayer Brown in Paris (2002-2007).

With close to 20 years’ experience as an international lawyer and corporate executive, Olivier has a strong background in strategic leadership and stakeholder management. His professional journey has consolidated his global outlook and a collaborative, business-oriented approach to building teams and organizations.

His current responsibilities at the ALSF include oversight of all the Facility’s activities in the areas of natural resources, energy, infrastructure/PPP and sovereign debt, and leveraging financial/technical partnership opportunities to deliver the most ambitious programs to African governments. He is also the legal representative of the Facility and ex officio Management Board member.

Olivier holds a Bar degree from Barreau des Hauts-de-Seine (France, 2001), a master’s degree in Project Finance & Structured Finance from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, France (France, 2006), a post-graduate degree in business law from Paris V Malakoff University (France, 1998) as well as qualifications in strategic leadership and finance from INSEAD (France, 2017 and 2018). He is married with 3 children.

2024 Agenda Sessions

DISRUPTIVE DISCUSSION-African Development Bank

Empowering African mining in an era of disruption: The role of development finance and support organisations

•   Gain insights into the current investment landscape in African mining, including opportunities, challenges, risk factors, and potential areas for growth and diversification.
•   Policy options for creating Africa’s demand for EV products.
•   Innovative ways of financing segments of the BEV (battery electric vehicle) value chain (for example, role of DFIs like the AfDB and the WB. Financial instruments available, funding mechanisms, risk mitigation strategies, etc.).
•   Understanding the impact of policies and regulatory frameworks on the African mining sector.
•   Available support from institutions to improve governance of the BEV value chain.

Tuesday 06 February 14:40 - 15:40 Disruptors Stage

Disruptive Discussions

Add to calendar 02/06/2024 14:40 02/06/2024 15:40 DISRUPTIVE DISCUSSION-African Development Bank

Empowering African mining in an era of disruption: The role of development finance and support organisations

Disruptors Stage Africa/Johannesburg