Johanna Monthe
Cameroon
Occupational Information
Job Title: Partner at Epena Law
Professional History
Johanna Monthe is a Partner at Epena Law, a boutique, Africa-focused commercial law firm. It advises companies and financial institutions on the structuring and negotiation of the terms of their investments in Africa, including fund structuring. She has said that her first responsibility is to lead by example and do the right thing while operating in a world in which cutting corners can appear to be possible without any direct negative consequences. She says it is possible to succeed by doing good, even when it may appear difficult. Because of this approach to ethics, Johanna says her firm has had to decline clients who were not aligned with these values.
Prior to Epena, she was a managing associate at Linklaters in London, where she set up investment funds, management companies, carried interest schemes, and advised on mergers and acquisitions and corporate transactions. She has advised on financing transactions, both short and long term, including on infrastructure and real estate projects.
Before that, Johanna was a Senior Associate at DLA Piper in London, where she worked in emerging markets. She also worked at SJ Berwin-King & Wood Mallesons in Paris and at Arend & Medernach in Luxembourg.
Aside from her work as a lawyer, Johanna has worked with Melting Pot Development to raise funds from the diaspora for orphanages in Cameroon. Money raised was used to create libraries in orphanages, help keep them afloat, and pay for orphans' school fees. She also worked with African Gems, a project initially developed by a university in the UK aimed at identifying and sponsoring kids in the poorest areas of Africa. The pilot began in Tanzania in 2016 when bright kids were identified and their studies sponsored. The project is being expanded to Central and West Africa with funding from her law firm and the financial help of some of its clients.
Johanna has also taught university law students at the University of Central Africa about how transactions are made in Europe, and lectured on private equity funds as well as project finance.
Qualifications
Bachelor degree from from University of Paris X Nanterre
Masters in Law from UCLA
Masters in Law from University of Paris X Nanterre
Executive MBA from LBS London
Bar qualifications to practice law in France, the UK, New York, and Cameroon
Programs
2020 Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow
