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Legal, Tax & Transition Finance Expertise Across Africa's Energy & Resource Sector

I help governments, investors, and businesses navigate energy, extractives, and climate transactions across West and Central Africa — from regulatory compliance and deal structuring to climate finance and capital access.

 

Carl Mbeng, Esq. LL.M., PMP

14+

YEARS EXPERIENCE

13

MARKETS COVERED

$10B+

COMPACTS REVIEWED

20+

TRANSACTIONS ADVISED

EN/FR

FULLY BILINGUAL
ADVISORY EXPERIENCE WITH
IFCWorld BankUSAID Power AfricaAfDBGET.investDeloitteGIZ

RESOURCES

Free tools and intelligence

Practical resources for developers, investors, and advisors working in African energy and extractives markets. Download free — no spam, no paywall.
SELF-ASSESSMENT DIAGNOSTIC

Bankability Scorecard

Score your project across 11 phases — from land tenure to financial close — for solar, small hydro, and mini-grid developers.

DUE DILIGENCE TOOL

Energy Audit Check List

Technical site assessment checklist for mini-grid and Commercial & Industrial (C&I) power projects.

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW

Importer's Guide to Solar

Legal framework, exemptions, and import procedure for clean energy equipment in Cameroon.

ANNOTATED REFERENCE

PPA & Concession Term Sheet

22 annotated provisions for IPP and concession negotiations in OHADA/CEMAC.

READINESS DIAGNOSTIC

Transmission Interconnection Diagnostic

Readiness diagnostic for cross-border transmission and
interconnection projects.

ADVISORY SESSION

Book a 45-Min Market Briefing

Structured one-on-one briefing on any market in my
coverage — regulatory landscape, licensing, tariffs, bankability risks, and deal structuring.

$200

ADVISORY CAPABILITIES

Four ways I help clients

From regulatory compliance to climate finance structuring — advisory that moves from analysis to deal close.

01

Energy & Climate Advisory

Transaction advisory, regulatory reform, ESG due diligence, project structuring, and blended finance design for energy and climate projects.
PPAsMini-gridsIPP licensingESG DDBlended finance

02

Legal & Tax Advisory

OHADA corporate law, energy and mining licensing, tax structuring, PPP frameworks, contract negotiation, and regulatory representation across CEMAC and ECOWAS.

OHADALicensingTaxPPPContracts
03

Capital Access & Grant Advisory

Sourcing, qualifying, packaging, and placing grants, concessional funding, and DFI capital for businesses and project developers in frontier markets.
GrantsDFI accessGuaranteesRBF

04

Investment & Fund Advisory

Climate finance practice design, green bond frameworks, NDC-aligned instrument structuring, and fund management advisory for investment banks and fund managers.

Green bondsSLBsNDC financeFund design
NEWSLETTER

BASIS — Africa Energy, Climate & Capital Intelligence

Monthly intelligence for the people making the decisions. Not what is happening — what it means for your deal.

Three pillars of coverage

Each issue delivers a deal insight, a regulatory watch item, and one honest opinion — drawn from active advisory work across thirteen African markets.
Energy & Power
IPPs, mini-grids, PPAs, grid access, utility reform, generation projects
Extractives & Resources
Oil & gas, critical minerals, upstream licensing, LNG, resource finance
Climate & Capital
Climate finance flows, NDC implementation, green bonds, DFI capital
01 ENERGY
Mission 300 and the Capital Gap No One Is Talking About
Thirteen countries. $10B+ in compact commitments. The regulatory gaps standing between political ambition and bankable deals.
02 EXTRACTIVES
Why Cameroon’s Industrial Gas Market Is About to Open Up
Matanda delays, Logbaba decline, and the supply gap creating a window for new entrants in Douala.
03 CLIMATE
African Banks and the $9.9B Climate Architecture Gap
NDC ambitions exist. Climate capital exists. The institutional infrastructure connecting the two does not.
● SPECIAL FOCUS
CLIMATE INTELLIGENCE
NDC FINANCE ANALYSIS

Mission 300 — Compact Commitments vs Operational Readiness

Country-by-country assessment of the gap between what governments have signed and what their enabling environments can deliver.

BANKING ASSESSMENT

African Banks and Climate Finance Readiness

Why 84% of African banks cannot meet basic DFI climate disclosure requirements — based on the WWF SUSBA Africa 2024 assessment.
COUNTRY DEEP DIVE

Rwanda NDC 3.0 — The $9.9B Conditional Finance Gap

USD 12 billion required by 2035. USD 9.9 billion conditional on international capital. Where are the instruments to absorb it?
CAPITAL TRACKER

DFI Deployment Monitor — West & Central Africa

Quarterly tracking of climate finance deployment by IFC, AfDB, Proparco, and DFC — commitment versus disbursement by country and sector.
Carl is developing a structured climate finance intelligence capability for Sub-Saharan Africa — tracking where capital actually flows, not just where it is promised.
ABOUT

Carl Mbeng

Independent Energy & Climate Advisor

I am an independent advisor specialising in legal, tax, and transition finance for the energy, extractives, and climate sector across West and Central Africa. Over 14 years I have worked with MDBs, DFIs, governments, and private sector clients on transaction advisory, regulatory reform, ESG due diligence, and climate finance structuring — in some of the most complex and fragile markets on the continent.

I publish BASIS — monthly intelligence on Africa’s energy, extractives, and climate capital markets — and am building a structured climate finance intelligence capability tracking where capital actually flows across Sub-Saharan Africa.

MARKETS COVERED

IFCIFC / World Bank — Mission 300 compact review, ESMAP mini-grid assessment, 13 countries
RTIUSAID Power Africa — $15M regional programme lead, DRC & Central Africa, 10+ transactions
DLTDeloitte / USAID WEAP — Regulatory & policy lead, 10+ ECOWAS countries, 20+ transactions
CLGCenturion Law Group — Director Central Africa, legal, tax & transaction advisory across 6+ countries

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

  •  PhD Candidate (in progress) – Doctoral Research in Energy & Climate Finance
  • Master’s Degree in Applied Taxation (Specialization: Energy Taxation) – University of Douala, Cameroon
  • Master’s Degree in Business Law – University of Douala, Cameroon
  • Master’s Degree in International Relations – International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC), Yaoundé
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Business Law – University of Yaoundé II, SOA, Cameroon
  • Bachelor’s Degree in Law – University of Yaoundé II, SOA, Cameroon

    BAR MEMBERSHIP
  • Barreau du Cameroun (Cameroon Bar Association) – Advocate-in-Training, Admitted, 2026

    CERTIFICATIONS
  • Certificate in NDC Strategy & Finance – Frankfurt School of Management :
  • Certificate in ESG Reporting – The ESG Institute
  • Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) Fundamentals — World Bank Group
  • Global Energy and Climate Policy — SOAS University of London (via Coursera)
  • Renewable Energy Projects — University of Colorado, Boulder (via Coursera)
  • Project Management Professional (PMP) — Project Management Institute (PMI)
  • Managing Environmental and Social Performance — World Bank Group (eLearning)
  • Climate Change: From Learning to Action — UN CC: Learn / One UN Climate Change Learning Partnership
  • Diploma in International Arbitration — Africa Arbitration Academy
  • Certificate in Finance for Non-Financial Managers — University of Cape Town, Graduate School of Business

    PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
  • Project Management Institute (PMI) — PMP certified
    Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN)
    Young Group of International Arbitrators (YGIA) — LCIA

Let's work together

Advising on a transaction, market entry, or climate finance opportunity in West or Central Africa? Start with a conversation.

carlmbeng@gmail.com · contact@carlmbeng.com