Engagement typology — DOUZEROCINQ CONSEILS

§ 1

Engagement types

Structuring

Legal architecture & governance

Shareholders' agreements, family protocols, mandate mapping, multi‑jurisdictional OHADA / EU holding architectures, recusal and independence protocols.

Due‑diligence

Transaction audit & counter‑expertise

Financial, legal, fiscal and reputational due‑diligence, commissioned by a European principal, an institutional donor or a board. Nine standard blocks, CEMAC / UEMOA annexes.

Carbon strategy

Verra VCS, Article 6, ICVCM advisory

Methodological framing (VM0048, ART‑TREES), positioning against Corresponding Adjustments, articulation with ICVCM CCP. Written recusal vis‑à‑vis KEYSAFE CARBON (DZC‑PROT‑001 v1.1).

Regulatory

Accreditation & compliance support

DRIEETS accreditation dossiers, Personal Services compliance, OHADA banking dossiers, anti‑money‑laundering, interfaces with tax and sectoral administrations.

Framing

Positioning and letter of engagement

Short framing missions (MDE‑13), positioning notes for boards, dossier structuring ahead of the selection of a lead advisor.

Pro bono

Gracious engagements & emerging structures

An annual capped volume is reserved for emerging structures (non‑profits, young OHADA groups, public policy initiatives). Every gracious engagement carries a dedicated "Right of reference use" clause. See position.

§ 2

Scope and commissioners

Geographical. Metropolitan France (Personal Services, group structuring); CEMAC, UEMOA and the OHADA area for francophone Africa engagements; third jurisdictions (EU, United Kingdom, Switzerland) on the articulation with the continent.
Transaction sizes. Indicatively, structuring operations from €500k upwards. Short framing missions (MDE‑13) from a capped daily fee. The firm declines mandates whose economics depend on uncertain success or on intermediation commissions.
Typical commissioners. Boards of directors, general management of OHADA family groups, institutional donors (AFD, AfDB, Proparco, FMO, PIDG), legal departments of European groups, public administrations, Africa‑focused investment funds, public and parapublic entities.
Working languages. French (primary), English (institutional donors, due‑diligence for international principals).

§ 3

Mandates the firm does not accept

Filtering through refusals is a more credible guarantee than the display of successes. The following mandates are systematically declined.

Pure commercial intermediation. Commission‑based introduction, "finder's fees", commercial representation not structured around an analytical deliverable. The firm advises; it is not a broker.
Non‑recusable conflicts of interest. Any mandate for which the DZC‑PROT‑001 v1.1 recusal protocol cannot be applied in an auditable manner is refused — in particular operational mandates within the KEYSAFE AFRICA perimeter.
Engagements without a letter of mission. No work is undertaken prior to the signature of a letter of engagement in the format DC‑YYYY‑TYPE‑NNN, scope, deliverables, fee basis, and independent attestor where the engagement touches on carbon or recusal governance.
Promises of outcome. The firm does not undertake that an accreditation will be granted, that financing will be secured, or that an institutional decision will be favourable. It undertakes the quality and completeness of the analysis.
Mandates requiring opacity. Any engagement that requires the absence of source traceability, the absence of quantified assumptions, or the absence of explicit sensitivities is declined.
Political vehicle. The firm is not an instrument of political influence, neither in France nor in Africa. The personal public commitments of its Manager are strictly separated from the firm and cannot be instrumentalised through a mandate.

§ 4

Engagement conditions

Structured letter of engagement. Each mandate receives a reference DC‑YYYY‑TYPE‑NNN. Object, deliverables, fee basis, calendar, honoraria, independent attestor where applicable, recusal clause.
Fixed fee or capped retainer. Fixed fee for delimited engagements (framing, due‑diligence, structuring), capped retainer for long accompaniments. No fees calculated as a percentage of an economic aggregate.
Recusal protocol. Any mandate that may overlap with the KEYSAFE AFRICA perimeter is accompanied by a written protocol, lodged with an OHADA/CCJA independent attestor in Abidjan.
Auditable deliverables. Traced sources, quantified assumptions, explicit sensitivities, at the documentary standard expected from an external auditor. Every document can be presented to a board or to a regulator.
Confidentiality by default. The firm does not publish client logos. Any public reference requires prior written consent. Gracious engagements include, by construction, a right‑of‑reference clause. See position.

Scope and engagement conditions