WA | Francophone Africa in Western Australia Forum

Mr Welborn is a highly accomplished and internationally respected resource company director with significant relevant African experience. A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, and a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Mr Welborn is currently Managing Director and CEO of Equatorial Resource Limited.

Mr Welborn is French speaking and has operated extensively in West and Central Africa, including the successful development and/or operation of mining projects in Mali, Cote D’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Senegal, Gabon, Cameroon and the Republic of Congo.

Working at Yara Internation since 1998 in several positions in engineering, technical support, production.
Multicultural experience (France, Brazil, Colombia, Australia), 5 languages spoken (French, English, Spanish, Portuguese and German).
14 years of Plant (Major Hazard Facilities) Management in 4 different countries (Brazil, France, Colombia and Australia).

Philip is a Director at Clifford Chance and heads the Firm's Renewable Energy practice in Asia Pacific. He has over 15 years’ experience advising and representing clients on projects and project financing transactions across a wide range of sectors including renewables, power, mining and oil & gas.

Prior to joining Clifford Chance in Perth, Philip spent 2 very happy years in the Clifford Chance Paris office and 4 years in the Firm's Frankfurt office.

Clifford Chance has a wealth of experience advising in the Hydrogen space. It has established a Clean Hydrogen Taskforce led by one of its senior Paris-based partners, and comprised of Clifford Chance lawyers from around the world across our Corporate, Global Financial Markets, Real Estate and Litigation & Dispute Resolution practices. The Taskforce regularly advises on hydrogen projects in various jurisdictions, drawing from its strengths in the renewable energy, pipelines and industrials sectors. Philip is an active member of the Taskforce.

A Franco-Maltese national, Rodolphe is a US (NY, WA, TX), Australia (WA), and New Zealand lawyer at Clifford Chance. He specialises in international commercial arbitration, investor-state dispute settlement, and cross-border projects. Rodolphe advises businesses to high-stake cross-border disputes in a wide range of industries and jurisdictions in North America, Europe, and Asia. In addition to natural resources and energy, he has a specific focus on the cannabis industry.

Rodolphe is a registered arbitrator. He regularly speaks at industry specific and high level international events.

Roger Staley is an internationally experienced senior mining, management and business professional with over 40 years of involvement in the Mining industry. Having undertaken roles on both the ‘Customer side’ of exploration and mining operations and the ‘Consultancy side’ of sales and services, Roger brings rounded, expert knowledge to the Australia-Africa Minerals and Energy Group.

Roger has lived and worked in Africa for almost 10 years during which he developed strong relationships with diplomats and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) representatives.

Responsible for global and/or regional business while based in Australia, Zambia, Republic of Congo, UAE and Canada, Roger interacted with all levels of government and local stakeholders, focusing on Mines ministries but also engaging with the Office of the President, State Owned Enterprises, NGOs and foreign governments operating in the region.

Roger is proud to be a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. He is also maintains an interest in various industry groups including Minerals Council of Australia, Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, French-Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gold Industry Group, WA Mining Club and the WA School of Mines Alumni Group.

Thomas is the General Manager of Alliance Française de Perth, language school and cultural centre.
A French national, Thomas is an education specialist. He has worked in several African countries for the French Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs. He has also worked for an NGO in Senegal.
A graduate in History, Anthropology and Political Science, he is passionate about intercultural relations.

Michael is a partner in Gilbert + Tobin’s Energy + Resources group.

A specialist in the areas of resources and corporate law. Within his areas of practice, Michael has significant expertise and experience in joint ventures and strategic alliances, development agreements, project commercialisation, initial public offerings, takeovers and mergers, corporate and project fundraisings either with debt or equity, construction and service contracts and asset purchases and sales.

Michael’s overseas experience has now covered in excess of 50 countries. Michael has a particular reputation for advising clients engaging in projects in Africa.

Sarah Harloe is Technip Energies’ Business Development Manager for Australia and New Zealand Operations.

Technip Energies is one of the key players in the world’s Energy Transition with positions and licenses in gas, hydrogen and it’s derivatives, carbon capture and biofuels and e-fuels.

Sarah has worked internationally in the Energy Industry for 12 years. She has worked technically and commercially for Technip Energies across Australia, Europe, and Asia on various energy projects and in corporate roles. Her experience on projects range from concept to execute, and include the two major projects Equinor’s Asgard Subsea Compression project and Shell’s Prelude FLNG. Sarah is a chartered professional engineer with Engineers Australia, and holds a double degree in Engineering and Commerce.

Experienced international mining professional who has worked across Australia, Africa, PNG, Solomon Islands and the UAE in various commodities and industrial minerals.

Jordan is committed to leading sustainable and ethical mining practices that engender mutual benefit and establish robust license(s) to operate. He holds a genuine passion for people, community, safety, environment, and organisational performance and has a demonstrated track-record of employing leading practice to execute initiatives across these disciplines in support of Company strategy to deliver improved outcomes for shareholders.

Mr Wilcox is highly experienced in the gold mining industry in West Africa, overseeing construction of West African’s (ASX: WAF) 300,000ozpa Sanbrado Gold Mine, completed in March 2020, ahead of schedule and under budget and having spent eight years working for Nord Gold, which operates nine gold mines globally, including three in Burkina Faso and one in Guinea.

He was Project Director for the construction of Nord Gold’s 4Mtpa Bissa Gold Project and 8Mtpa Bouly Gold Project, both in Burkina Faso, General Manager of the 6Mtpa LEFA Gold Project in Guinea, and Project Director for construction of the 12Mtpa Gross Gold Project in Siberia, Russia.