Dominant Seven LLC · Africa-facing advisory

Know who you’re dealing with. Shape how it’s told.

A boutique firm for investors, development partners and companies working in Africa. We combine strategic communications, due diligence and risk advisory, so the facts behind a decision and the story around it come from the same team.

Discuss an engagement See our services

Services

Three practices, one picture.

Each practice stands on its own. Most of our engagements use two or three together, because what you learn about a counterparty changes what you should say, and what is said about you changes your risk.

D7 / COM

Strategic communications

Positioning, reputation and stakeholder engagement for organisations whose work is scrutinised by governments, communities, media and funders.

  • Reputation and stakeholder strategy
  • Crisis and issues communications
  • Media relations and media monitoring
  • Annual reports, profiles, speeches and briefs
  • Conference and workshop rapporteuring

Typically forDevelopment programmes, financial institutions, corporates entering new markets

D7 / DD

Due diligence

Integrity and background research on the people and companies you plan to invest in, partner with, hire or fund, built from public records and local sources.

  • Pre-investment and pre-transaction checks
  • Beneficial ownership tracing
  • Executive and board background reviews
  • Third-party and supplier screening
  • Sanctions, PEP and adverse media review

Typically forInvestors and funds, lenders, procurement and compliance teams

D7 / RSK

Risk advisory

Clear reads on the political, regulatory and operating environment, so decisions on entry, expansion and timing rest on current ground truth.

  • Political and regulatory risk assessments
  • Market entry and country briefings
  • Stakeholder and influence mapping
  • Election-period and transition planning
  • Ongoing watch and monitoring reports

Typically forBoards and leadership teams, project developers, multilateral partners

The facts that shape a deal also shape how it is reported. We work on both.

Most firms split reputation from risk. In practice they arrive together: an ownership question surfaces in the press, or a policy shift turns into a stakeholder problem overnight.

One accountable team, senior attention on every file, and discretion as standard.

Approach

How an engagement runs.

Engagements are scoped to the decision you need to make. You agree the questions, the depth and the deadline before any work starts.

  1. Scope

    We agree the decision at stake, the questions to answer, the jurisdictions and the confidentiality terms.

    NDA signed before briefing

  2. Gather

    Public records, registries, court files and media, followed by discreet enquiries with people who know the ground.

    Records + sources

  3. Verify

    Each finding is cross-checked and graded by source reliability. We separate what is confirmed from what is reported.

    Graded findings

  4. Advise

    A written report with clear flags, a briefing for decision-makers and, where needed, a communications plan.

    Report + briefing

Coverage

Built for the continent’s markets.

Our research draws on registries, courts, media and local networks in each country we work in. These are the markets we cover most often.

East AfricaEAC

  • Uganda
  • Kenya
  • Tanzania
  • Rwanda
  • South Sudan

Horn of AfricaIGAD

  • Ethiopia
  • Somalia
  • Djibouti

Great Lakes & CentralECCAS

  • DR Congo
  • Burundi
  • Cameroon

West AfricaECOWAS

  • Nigeria
  • Ghana
  • Côte d’Ivoire
  • Senegal

Southern AfricaSADC

  • South Africa
  • Zambia
  • Mozambique
  • Zimbabwe
Other jurisdictions on requestOffshore holding structures tracedReporting in English

Contact

Start with a confidential conversation.

Tell us what decision you are facing. We will come back to you with how we would approach it and what it would take.

Helpful to include

  1. The decision or situation, in a sentence or two
  2. The people, companies or countries involved
  3. Your deadline
Write to usinfo@dominantseven.com