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Burkina Faso Idrissa Nassa, the Burkinabe financier behind Coris Bank International, has appointed former Endeavour Mining chief executive Sebastien de Montessus to run Mansa Resources, the private company now controlling gold projects in Guinea and Liberia.
The appointment, confirmed by people familiar with the decision and corporate records, places Nassa at the center of a widening reshuffle in West Africa’s gold sector, where higher bullion prices are drawing fresh money and reviving stalled assets.
Mansa Resources was registered in Dubai about 10 months ago and has quietly grown into the holding company for two former Hummingbird Resources assets, the Kouroussa mine in Guinea and the Dugbe development project in Liberia, the people said. De Montessus is also a shareholder in Mansa, according to the same sources.
Nassa’s move follows his takeover of Hummingbird, the Africa focused miner that had faced a string of operational and financing problems. Entities linked to Nassa had become Hummingbird’s biggest shareholder and creditor before he acquired the remaining shares and took the London listed company private last March, the people said.
The comeback for de Montessus is drawing particular attention because of the way his tenure at Endeavour ended. Endeavour’s board forced him out in January 2024 after it alleged serious misconduct involving more than $20 million in payments to a company incorporated in the United Arab Emirates. Endeavour said an investigation was unable to determine the ultimate beneficiary of the payments.
De Montessus has denied wrongdoing and said he did not benefit personally, describing the payments as connected to an established contractor. Endeavour and its former CEO later reached a settlement in July 2024.
The people familiar with the matter said de Montessus initially returned to the industry as an adviser to Nassa during efforts to refinance Hummingbird. The relationship deepened as Nassa moved to consolidate the miner’s assets under private ownership and seek a reset that could be harder to pull off under the glare of public markets.
Nassa’s Nioko Resources Corp. is Mansa’s largest shareholder, one person said. Orion Resource Partners, a New York based investment firm, also holds shares and has a seat on the board, according to a registry filing in the UAE that does not list the size of its stake.
Supporters of Nassa’s strategy argue that his regional footprint gives him an edge. Coris Bank operates across multiple African markets, and several executives associated with Nassa’s companies are listed as Mansa shareholders, the people said.
Industry analysts say the bet is straightforward: apply experienced leadership, stabilize Kouroussa, and push Dugbe toward development in a stronger gold market. Kouroussa has been a difficult asset, and Dugbe remains a capital heavy project that will need financing and careful sequencing.
Whether the plan succeeds will hinge on execution at the mine sites and on access to funding, especially as costs rise across the industry. Nassa has built a reputation as a dealmaker in finance. His next test is whether he can turn that influence into reliable output and returns from the ground.
