A foreign entrepreneur who chooses France should never have to choose between ambition and legal certainty. My job is to make sure they never have to.
Training completed in leading Anglo-American law firms
Trained in business law at Université Paris Nanterre and holding a master’s degree in comparative law from Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, I completed my training in two leading Anglo-American business law firms.
At Stephenson Harwood, I worked on insolvency proceedings, OHADA disputes and project finance. At Hogan Lovells, in the employment department, I took part in the full employment audit of a company with more than 2,000 employees in connection with its acquisition by a major international group.
From these firms I kept a method: thorough documentation with no blind spots, well-sourced analysis, and the habit of working in English with international counterparts. I apply the same standard to every matter today, whatever its size.
Chad: large-scale transactions
I am also admitted to the Chad Bar, where I head the Advisory Department of Cabinet Thomas Dingamgoto. There I advise multinational groups, financial institutions, development finance institutions and international law firms on their operations in Central Africa, in energy, telecommunications, mining and banking.
This practice taught me that a foreign investor does not want a law lecture. They want the rules made clear and to know in what order to act. An entrepreneur investing their savings in a project deserves the same rigour as someone running a nine-figure transaction.
In Paris: the lawyer for foreign entrepreneurs
In Paris, I made a choice: to support foreign entrepreneurs who want to settle in France or grow their business here. More than 27 nationalities supported, across four continents, including clients from Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Tunisia, the Congo, Senegal, India, China, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Colombia, Australia and Lebanon.
My purpose fits in one sentence: to be the lighthouse that guides foreign entrepreneurs through the maze of legal rules. French, English, some Spanish and Chadian Arabic: I work in my clients’ language whenever I can.
How I support foreign entrepreneurs
The Talent Passport – business creation, through its three routes: creating a company, an innovative project recognised by a public body (the French Tech route) and direct economic investment. Company, business plan, deposit of funds, application for the administrative opinion, consular file, arrival in France, then the « talent (family) » residence card for your spouse and children.
The « entrepreneur / liberal profession » residence permit, when it is the right route, particularly for the takeover of an existing business or a project that does not meet the Talent Passport conditions. I do not push the Talent Passport: when another route is the right one, I say so.
Setting up a French company as a foreign national, including without a residence permit and without coming to France, whether it is an operating company managed from abroad or a French holding company with subsidiaries in Africa. Share capital can be deposited in the CARPA account of the Paris Bar: you do not need a French bank account to get started.
Support after you settle: once the company is set up and the residence permit granted, the legal work does not stop, it changes in nature.
A multidisciplinary practice
Around this clientele, my practice brings together several areas of expertise, so that entrepreneurs find most of what they need in one place: company law, commercial contracts and shareholders’ agreements, employment law, commercial leases and business transfers, debt recovery and commercial litigation, under both French and OHADA law.
A lawyer who finds solutions
Giving advice is good. Finding solutions to the client’s real questions is better.
Many projects arrive with a good idea but the wrong scale: a budget designed to reach a threshold rather than to keep the business alive, forgotten costs, a first year that only works if the founder pays themselves nothing. My role is to help size the project properly: check the figures, spot what does not hold up and, when needed, suggest another angle built on the entrepreneur’s real experience. A well-sized project convinces the authorities and, above all, survives its first year.
That is how I see my work: a fresh perspective, responsiveness, and a willingness to adapt the project to French rules rather than run into them.
Four commitments
Rigour. A standard forged in international business law firms, applied to every matter, whatever its size.
Transparency. I flag from the outset anything that could cause a file to fail, even when it is not what the client hopes to hear.
Accessibility. A direct relationship with your lawyer, with no intermediary. A reply within 24 business hours.
Confidentiality. Strict respect for professional secrecy, the cornerstone of trust between lawyer and client.
Where to start?
Choose the meeting that fits your project:
Talent Passport – business creation
Company formation or any other matter
Documents to download
Firm Brochure – Sintes Dingamgoto: general presentation of the firm and its services.
Talent Passport Guide: France’s Talent Passport procedure, step by step.
French Tech Visa Guide: practical presentation of the French Tech Visa programme.
Fee Schedule – Sintes Dingamgoto: the firm’s fees and terms of engagement.
CARPA – Depositing your project funds in France: how to deposit your project funds without a French bank account.
Maître Sintes Dingamgoto
Avocat, admitted to the Paris and Chad Bars
Toque D 1086 – 79 rue d’Amsterdam, 75008 Paris, France