This year’s Africa Elite reveals the domestic firms and international lawyers leading the continent’s rise. As this executive summary shows, private equity is a growing force Private equity is the story of Africa in 2015. With interest in the continent rocketing in recent years, investment houses are turning their eyes away from South Africa’s developed […]
Our essential guide to the top legal outfits south of the Sahara advising on private equity BOTSWANA Collins Newman & Co Founded: 1977 Offices: Gabarone Management: Managing partner Parks Tafa The Botswanan member of the Africa Legal Network, Collins Newman & Co is at the cutting edge of the country’s nascent private equity sector. Under […]
Insurance company ACE group has appointed Susan McDonald to the role of regional general counsel for Eurasia and Africa as it continues to build up its management team in the region. McDonald, who has been the legal and compliance manager for MENA for over five years, will be responsible for overseeing the legal and compliance […]
The Lawyer’s Africa Elite report is published on Monday (30 March). Ahead of that the first-ever managing partner of Webber Wentzel, one of South Africa’s oldest and largest firms, unveils her plans for the future. Africa is the target for many firms’ and clients’ investment and South Africa’s biggest firms are gearing up to meet […]
Slaughter and May and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton have advised GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on the sale of a £574m stake in South African drug manufacturer Aspen. Slaughters corporate and commercial partner David Johnson advised GSK’s in-house team, which was led by legal counsel Nicola Fell. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton partner Sebastian Sperber advised GSK […]
Eversheds and Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) have both expanded their reach in Africa this week with the firms signing strategic alliances in South Africa, and Uganda and Zimbabwe respectively. Eversheds’ latest tie-up is with Cape Town-based Walkers, a full-service firm that counts EY, Investec, Hyprop Investments, Nedbank, Old Mutual, RGA Reinsurance, Standard Bank, and Woolworths […]
Eversheds and Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) are already two of the most-established firms operating on the African continent, both with their own offices in South Africa – and plans to keep growing. This week the duo have announced new alliances with domestic firms to boost their presence further. Eversheds has added to its South African […]
An explosion in investor interest has international firms lining up for a share of the African market, but legal systems are straining to keep pace with change. International companies have for years been crying out for a stable platform from which to access the untapped potential of Africa. The continent’s abundant resources, vast size and […]
Simmons & Simmons has hired Paul Bugingo, the former relationship chair of Dentons’ Africa steering commitee, as a partner in its Africa team. The news follows this morning’s news, first revealed by The Lawyer, that Bugingo was leaving Dentons to “pursue other interests” (12 November 2014). Bugingo was a key player in developing Dentons’ well-regarded […]
Dentons and its legacy practices have arguably been a pioneer into the African continent, opening an office in Cairo half a century ago and since developing one of the largest networks of local firms. One of the key figures behind the firm’s efforts in the past 15 years has been Paul Bugingo, described on Dentons’ […]
Dentons has confirmed that its former Africa Steering Committee relationship chair Paul Bugingo is leaving the firm to “pursue other interests” in a blow to its ambitions on the continent. Bugingo has been instrumental to developing the firm’s well-regarded network of African best friend firms, which now spans 15 countries. Dentons also has its own […]
Africa’s largest firm, ENSafrica, has merged with 11-partner Namibian firm Lorentz Angula, adding another two offices to its network. The merger took effect on 1 November. Lorentz Angula brings offices in the Namibian capital Windhoek as well as the coastal city of Swakopmund. The combined firm has plans to open soon in Walvis Bay, south […]