Dominique le Roux
Manisha Dookhony
Consultant – private sector development, finance advisory and investment
Tell us about your role on the project that you consulted on for Landell Mills.
Under the Africa RISE (Reform for Investment and Sustainable Economies) project, I managed 101 projects across 25 African countries with €12.7 million of funding, directing economic transformation through three core pillars:
- Investment and Market Reform, including reshaping regulatory landscapes in Rwanda, Mauritius, and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) states.
- Sector Development, including for wool and mohair in Lesotho, information and communications technology in Namibia, and sustainable tourism.
- Gender Equity and Institutional Capacity, including embedding inclusive frameworks across public and private sectors.
On the project, I led over 300 consultants, 85% of which were regional seniors, and managed multiple time zones. I worked a wide range of project tasks, including structuring a biotech hub in Mauritius, launching Uganda’s eco-tourism certification and hosting fourteen public-private dialogue webinars.
Achievements of the project included driving regulatory modernisation; creating post-COVID recovery frameworks; and developing financial ecosystems for various countries with the aim of securing EU funding and guarantee instruments for high-impact investments.
What did a typical day look like in your role on the project?
My days typically began with a virtual handover with the Australia-based Team Leader to review overnight developments and prioritise critical actions. This was followed by deep-dive sessions with project teams based in the Seychelles and Mauritius to get updates on areas including Port Victoria digitalisation, gender projects and pharmaceutical hub feasibility; and calls with teams in Madagascar, Kenya, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola to troubleshoot supply chain bottlenecks or policy adoption barriers.
In the afternoon, I would focus on engagement with the EU and operational execution, report finalisation and provision of guidance on policy frameworks, and consultations with ministerial / EU ambassadors.
What skills did you use most within your role on the project?
The ability to work with a wide range of stakeholders and achieve consensus among them was a very important skill on the Africa RISE project, which required me to navigate complex power dynamics across governments, EU Delegations and the private sector; and coordinate more than 50 specialists across nine time zones.
Strategic and economic skills and knowledge were also key, which I used to identify investment gaps and uncover cost inefficiency in certification systems, triggering streamlined national standards.
What previous experience or qualifications proved most useful within your role on the project?
As part of the negotiating team for the Government of Mauritius, I designed treaties balancing foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction with developmental sovereignty, which included re-engineering Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and drafting model clauses for sustainable investment. I used this experience in my roles at Landell Mills to design a BIT diagnostic toolkit in Rwanda, identifying $240M in potential fiscal exposure from outdated treaties.
What did you enjoy about working with Landell Mills as a consultant?
Impact through collaboration, and the rush of seeing frameworks take root – moving from policy to tangible change. For example, Mauritius’ gender finance charter was used by 127 firms, increasing women-led SME loans by 37% within 18 months; Mozambique waste-pickers’ revenue grew 4.2x after formalising recycling cooperatives under our circular economy project; and the Seychelles’ €75M port expansion – once a feasibility study – now handles 40% more regional trade.
I also valued being immersed in multiple sectors, and the lack of ivory-tower theorising. For example, assessing Southern African mining sites, mapping waste flows in Mozambique and stress-testing Rwanda’s BIT clauses with investors. I would pivot daily from gender charters to port concession agreements. We didn’t just write reports – we built bridges, trained waste-pickers as entrepreneurs and turned treaty clauses into vaccine factories.
What is your most memorable moment from working with Landell Mills?
The closing ceremony for the Africa RISE programme, which brought together key stakeholders from the EU, African governments and consortium partners after four years of collaboration. This moment stood out because it measured real-world impact, moving beyond deliverables to evidence policy adoption and funded projects. We celebrated project wins while formally recognising how the team navigated unforeseen setbacks through structured contingency planning.
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