Baba Hady Thiam

Baba Hady Thiam is the Managing partner of Thiam & Associés. He dedicates his practice to mining transactions, M&A and private equity transactions. He has an extensive expertise in commercial contracts, restructuring and insolvency proceedings, commercial litigation, international arbitration and real estate matters. He assists his clients both in Guinea and internationally (notably in member countries of the OHADA zone) and advises Guinean, African and international groups, public and private institutions, investment funds, governments, and African entrepreneurs.

Baba Hady began his career as an associate in the Paris office of Gide Loyrette Nouel, where he practiced for four years before joining the Paris office of the firm Dechert LLP.

Over the course of these collaborations, he was involved in numerous cross-border transactions (particularly in African jurisdictions) and assisted major international groups (such as Société Générale, BNP Paribas Cardif or Orange in the acquisition of Airtel entities in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone or in the purchase of Orascom’s rights and shares in the Egyptian company Mobilnil (ECMS) for an amount of EUR 209.6 million), governments (such as the Cameroonian government in the context of the Mbalam/Nabeba integrated mining project with a total estimated value of USD 4.5 billion), investment funds (such as Opengate Capital or the European Investment Bank) and the private sector for an amount of USD 209.6 million), governments (e.g. the Cameroonian government in the context of the Mbalam/Nabeba integrated mining project with an estimated total value of USD 4.5 billion), investment funds (e.g. Opengate Capital or Mutares in the context of the acquisition of PIXmania).

More recently, he advised a banking pool (including Natixis London Branch, Société Générale London Branch, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, BNP Paribas, ING, World Bank Group) in connection with an USD 823 million syndicated financing for Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG). He also advised the Vista Bank Group in the acquisition of the Burkinabe and Guinean subsidiaries of the BNP Paribas Group (BICIAB and BICIGUI).

Baba Hady is a member of the Guinean and Paris Bars and works in French and English. He is also fluent in the main Guinean dialects (Puular, Sousou and Malinké).

He obtained his high school diploma in Guinea and completed his academic career in France (University of Bordeaux Montesquieu Bordeaux IV, University of Paris II Pantheon-Assas and University of Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne). He also holds a Leadership Certificate from Harvard Law School. Baba Hady is the recipient of numerous legal awards and recognitions. He was ranked by Jeune Afrique as one of the 50 leading business lawyers in French-speaking Africa for the years 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. He is also individually ranked by the leading legal publications Global Chambers and IFLR 1000. In addition, Financial Afrik magazine ranked him among the Top 100 personalities who will transform Africa in 2020.

Baba Hady is the Co-founder and President of the Guinean Young Professional’s Club and is an active member of the African Business Lawyers’ Club and the OSER L’Afrique professional network.