ALN has announced the admission of three new members as part of their strategy to expand into francophone Africa. The new members are based in Algeria, Guinea and Morocco and joined as of 1 May 2017. ALN now has coverage in 16 countries making it the largest legal alliance of its kind in Africa.
According to ALN’s Chairman, Dr Cheick Modibo Diarra, “ALN’s expansion strategy has been planned carefully for some time now as we sought out the right firms that met our requirements in terms of independence, capacity, integrity, expertise and cultural fit.”
He further mentioned, “It is clear that the Francophone market is looking for lawyers that are dynamic, mobile, and tech-savvy, who can bring international experience alongside their local on the ground connections. This is what ALN is all about.”
The new member firms are led by Safia Fassi-Fihri for BFR & Associés in Morocco, Foued Bourabiat for Bourabiat Associés in Algeria and Salimatou Diallo for SD Avocats in Guinea. These three firms have been working closely with each other and sought to join ALN as part of a common strategy focused on the sustainable growth of their respective practices in francophone Africa.
ALN now has integrated Anglophone, Lusophone and Francophone capabilities, setting it apart from other African networks which work on a pure regional or referral basis.
Karim Anjarwalla, Managing Partner of Anjarwalla & Khanna, one of the founders of ALN, commented on the new members,”ALN has been in a ‘consolidation’ phase for some time now as we have been recruiting a team of professional business services resources to properly support ALN member firms. Now that we have the appropriate infrastructure and personnel in place we are able to drive our expansion plans and introduce a whole new market to ALN clients.”
Anjarwalla further says, “ALN’s continued success in advising on cross border matters comes from our one firm approach of collaborating in virtual teams across multiple offices.”
ALN will be able to capitalise on the increase in trade and investment between francophone Africa and anglophone Africa by offering on-the-ground legal resources to clients. ALN members also share resources and exchange business insights, market intelligence and best practices, placing them in an ideal position to advise any client looking to bridge between Francophone and Anglophone Africa.