Legal excellence driven by a dedicated team

Alvine Bélise HAPPI holds a Doctorate in Law, awarded following the completion of a thesis examining the legal aspects of cross-border economic relations, maritime and multimodal transport law, with a particular focus on European maritime trade law and the corresponding legal frameworks of African states. Her academic background combines fundamental private law with international business law.

A graduate of the Paris Bar School and holder of the French Bar Qualification Certificate (CAPA), Alvine Bélise HAPPI is admitted to both the Paris Bar in France and the Cameroon Bar.

She has acquired extensive professional experience over several years within companies, professional organisations and international business law firms, including French, British and US firms. This diverse background enables her to provide clients with tailored legal services across the principal areas of business law.

She has regularly been involved in complex projects and in advisory and litigation matters relating to structured finance transactions in Europe, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. She has also developed specific expertise in cross-border universal transfers of assets and liabilities, including cross-border dissolution and merger transactions. Such operations may arise in various contexts, including the sale of businesses, corporate restructuring and insolvency matters, business transfers, cessation of operations, legal or technical optimisation, procedural defence strategies and the reduction of asset exposure.

Alvine Bélise HAPPI also advises on maritime law and international and multimodal transport law, particularly in relation to regulatory matters, acquisitions and restructuring transactions.

She is also a state-certified mediator. Trained in mediation at the Institut Catholique de Paris (ICP) and the Institut de Formation à la Médiation et à la Négociation (IFOMENE), she acts as a conflict-management facilitator and assists companies and institutional clients in resolving disputes efficiently and confidentially while preserving long-term business relationships.

She has a strong interest in arbitration and alternative dispute resolution methods, whether contractual, court-connected or institutional, and whether intended to resolve domestic or international disputes.

She currently provides her expertise to private individuals, companies and institutional clients, whom she advises and represents in both advisory and contentious matters.

Drawing on the expertise acquired throughout her academic and professional career, Alvine Bélise HAPPI partnered with Sylvie BEBOHI EBONGO to establish HBE Avocats.

Sylvie BEBOHI EBONGO holds a Doctorate in Law, awarded following the completion of a thesis on the specific issues surrounding the enforcement of arbitral awards. In addition to an academic background combining fundamental private law and business law, she gained professional experience as in-house legal counsel within an audit and advisory firm. She has also acquired extensive experience with several highly regarded law firms.

A graduate of the Paris Bar School and holder of the French Bar Qualification Certificate (CAPA), Sylvie BEBOHI EBONGO is admitted to both the Paris Bar in France and the Cameroon Bar. She is also the Managing Partner of HBE AVOCATS CAMEROON.

She advises private individuals, companies and institutional clients. She assists clients with company formation, pre-contractual matters—including negotiations, contract drafting and dispute resolution strategies—and the performance and implementation of their contractual obligations. She also regularly provides strategic advice during the pre-litigation phase of dispute management.

She has extensive arbitration experience and regularly acts as an arbitrator, counsel or secretary to arbitral tribunals in both commercial and investment arbitration proceedings. She is included on the panels of arbitrators of the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA-OHADA), the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA), and the Ouagadougou Arbitration, Mediation and Conciliation Centre (CAMC-O).

She has also developed a strong practice in post-award litigation, particularly in proceedings relating to the annulment and enforcement of arbitral awards, both within and outside the OHADA region.

Passionate about alternative dispute resolution, she has a particular interest in mediation and other dispute resolution mechanisms designed to facilitate the amicable settlement of disputes. She therefore advises and represents clients in both commercial and investment mediation matters.

Her extensive involvement in international trade law, together with her in-depth knowledge of the law of the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA), in which she has practised for many years, has also led her to develop a dedicated practice advising foreign investors seeking to establish operations within OHADA jurisdictions.

Drawing on the expertise acquired throughout her academic and professional career, Sylvie BEBOHI EBONGO partnered with Alvine Bélise HAPPI to establish HBE Avocats.