About us

ABC Consultancy was born of a simple observation: between Africa and Dubai, opportunities are many, but so are failures. African investors arrive in Dubai with serious projects and get lost among the multitude of free zones, intermediaries and promises. UAE funds and groups look at Africa with interest and give up for lack of reliable partners, clear data and a counterpart able to speak both languages, literally and figuratively.

Nidhal Chaawa founded the firm in Dubai after a career that took him from African institutions to international markets. His conviction is that Africa does not need more middlemen, but solid bridges held by people who understand both shores. This conviction translates into a standard: to put our name only on transactions we have examined, with partners we have vetted, in a framework we have secured.

The firm chose Dubai because that is where Africa and international capital physically meet, every day, in hotels, free zones, trading offices and trade fairs. There we have built a network of partners, lawyers, bankers, developers, refiners, logistics operators, funds and family offices, that allows us to execute what we advise.

Independence: we are tied to no developer, free zone or bank. We steer clients towards the solution that suits them, and we refuse hidden remuneration. Confidentiality: our clients' projects, identities and figures do not leave our offices. Rigour: every statement in our notes is sourced, every partner vetted, every contract reviewed by a lawyer. And clarity: we say what we can do, what we cannot do, what it costs and how long it takes.

We work in English, French and Arabic, with partners covering Portuguese and Swahili. We travel regularly to the countries where we support projects, and we receive clients in Dubai or by video call. Our team is deliberately small: every client has a single point of contact who follows their file from start to finish.

A family of entrepreneurs from Kinshasa wants to secure part of its wealth outside the DRC and obtain long-term residency for children studying abroad. We analyse their situation, recommend the purchase of two completed apartments in a high-rental-demand district, structure the acquisition through a free zone holding, prepare the bank file and submit the Golden Visa application. Three months later the family is resident, its properties are rented and rental income is collected in Dubai.

An Abu Dhabi family office wants exposure to African critical metals without operating a mine. We identify advanced-stage copper and cobalt projects in Zambia and the DRC, verify licences, partners and counterparties, organise site visits and structure a minority stake with an offtake contract. The family office invests in a framework it understands, with quarterly reporting we coordinate.

A West African ministry is seeking partners for an industrial zone and a solar electrification programme. We prepare an investment file to Gulf fund standards, organise a delegation to Dubai with qualified meetings with funds, manufacturers and operators, then follow up contacts through to memoranda of understanding. These three examples sum up our work: understand the objective, find the right partner, secure the framework and follow execution.

The name of the site states our purpose: investment, in both directions, between Africa and Dubai. We made it bilingual because our clients are, French speakers from Central and West Africa, English speakers from East and Southern Africa, Arabic speakers from the Maghreb, the Sahel and the Gulf. Every page exists in English and French, with the same level of detail, so that a minister in Brazzaville and a fund director in Abu Dhabi read the same analysis. The site is also our calling card: what we write about each country is what we would say to a client in a meeting, without excessive promises and without omitting risks.

We update the country pages as situations evolve, new laws, new projects, new agreements with the UAE, and we welcome corrections from readers who know a market better than we do. Figures given on the pages are orders of magnitude drawn from public sources, meant to frame a first conversation, not to replace the due diligence we carry out on each engagement.

In Dubai we work with law firms specialised in corporate, real estate and compliance matters, banks used to African clients, developers whose deliveries we have checked, DMCC-certified refineries and traders, free zones and logistics operators. In Africa our network includes business lawyers and notaries in each of the countries covered, accountants, investment promotion agencies, chambers of commerce and operating partners in mining, energy, agriculture and real estate. This network cannot be rented: it is built, engagement after engagement, on trust, and it is the reason we can execute what we advise rather than simply recommend it.