Born in 1983, Romain Girbal is the co-Founder of Adventure Capital Corporation, a Private Equity Firm investing in early stage/Greenfield mining and Oil & Gas projects across Africa, and the President and co-Founder of Alliance Minière Responsable, an independent French company specialised in the exploitation of mining deposits in Africa.
Education
After studying French and Spanish Business Law at the Paris X Nanterre University and International Business at the Carlos III University in Madrid, Romain Girbal graduated in 2007 from the prestigious French business school HEC with a Master’s degree in Business Law and International Management.
Career
Romain Girbal started his career at Glencore UK Ltd in London, an Anglo-Swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company, and specialised in structured finance working with West African and South American countries. Glencore and its global network of more than 90 offices in over 50 countries contributed to strengthening Romain Girbal’s will to develop projects on an international scale.
In 2008, Romain Girbal was appointed Head of the Legal Department at Harvest Energy, an independent road fuel supplier and blender operating in the UK and Switzerland. There, Romain Girbal was in charge of taking care of the company’s legal issues including contract negotiation, Letters of Credit, litigation, etc. This multi-year experience deepened his skills and expertise in the Energy sector.
Four years later, Romain Girbal was more than ever driven by a strong desire to embrace an entrepreneurship career. He naturally chose to partner with Thibault Launay, one of his closest friends met in London, to found Adventure Capital Corporation, a Private Equity and Financial Advisory firm dedicated to the development of Mining and Oil and Gas projects in Africa. The company advises private investors, firms and governments on mergers and acquisitions, business development and strategic partnerships.
Following the successful path initiated with Adventure Capital Corporation, Romain Girbal and Thibault Launay decided to reinforce their association and founded in July 2015 Alliance Minière Responsable (AMR) which aims to develop socially responsible mining projects in Africa respecting both the environment and the local communities. Thanks to a 295 square km bauxite exploration permit in Guinea, a country owning 2/3 of the world bauxite reserves, their core ambition is to become a world leading bauxite producer while doing “mining differently”.
Anecdotes
Romain Girbal is one of the few entrepreneurs to have chosen to turn to Africa while giving up a promising career in finance or trading in London. The originality of the AMR's project as well as the singularity of its founders attracted eminent figures from the French business community: Anne Lauvergeon, former CEO of Areva; Edouard Louis-Dreyfus, President of the Louis Dreyfus Armateurs group; Alain Mallart, President of Energipole Group ; Daniel Lebard, President of ISPG ; but the main spotlight probably came from Xavier Niel, the famous founder of the French Internet service provider and Mobile operator Iliad trading under the Free brand, who bought a minority stake in the mining company in January 2016.
