The Gambian State has picked out a team of expert lawyers to...

The Gambian State has picked out a team of expert lawyers to fight back against the junior, which is unwilling to accept the withdrawal of its two offshore blocks.
To counter an ICSID (International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes) offensive by British junior African Petroleum, which feels that its Gambian blocks A1 and A4, which have caught the interest of Woodside and Tullow Oil, were unjustifiably removed in 2017 (AEI 807), Banjul has enlisted the services of Omnia Strategy.

This London-based law firm is headed by barrister Cherie Blair, wife of former British prime minister Tony Blair, who now is very active lobbyist in Africa. Sofia Blount, grand-daughter of the 8th Duke of Wellington and married to singer James Blunt is a director of Omnia. The firm has worked on numerous assignments on the continent, including for the **onese government, but also on investments in Libya (MC 1203). Nigerian cement magnate, Aliko Dangote, who regularly tops Forbes' list of the richest Africans, is a member of their advisory council.

Omnia will work on this case alongside lawyer Lucas Bastin from the Essex Court Chambers. Bastin, a oil and mining arbitration expert, previously represented Sudanese state-run firm Sudapetagainst the South Sudanese government before the ICSID.

Omnia and Bastin will work with US-based Gambian lawyer Edi M.O. Faal, who advises companies active in Africa and who also defended high profile names following the murder of American rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996.

Banjul's representatives now need to name an arbitrator. African Petroleum's defence counsel, British international disputes specialist Maurice Kenton from Clyde & Co, has appointed Swiss lawyer Charles Poncet and Italian law professor Franco Ferrari as arbitrators for the ICSID case.