We help our clients manage legal complexity and unlock opportunity in Africa.
We have an enviable track record of providing legal services to the highest professional standards in Africa. We work for clients across numerous African jurisdictions on corporate, finance, competition, taxation, employment, technology and dispute resolution matters.
With eight offices in six African countries and over 400 specialist lawyers, we draw on our unique knowledge of the business and socio-political environment to advise clients on a wide range of legal issues.
Everywhere we work, we offer clients a service that uniquely blends expertise in the law, knowledge of the local market, and an understanding of their businesses. Our aim is to assist clients to achieve their objectives as smoothly and efficiently as possible while minimising the legal and regulatory risks.
Our clients include domestic and foreign corporates, multinationals, funds and financial institutions, across almost all sectors of the economy, as well as state-owned enterprises and governments.
In the 2021 DealMakers Africa Awards we ranked first in East Africa for both deal value and deal flow, with a 52% and a 40% share of the market respectively. We also advised on the deals named East Africa Deal of the Year and East Africa Private Equity Deal of the Year. In the 2021 DealMakers Awards we placed first by deal flow and second by deal value in the Unlisted M&A Transactions category; first by deal flow and third by deal value in the BEE Deals category; third and fourth by value and flow respectively, in the Listed Company M&A Transactions category; and fourth by deal value and deal flow in the General Corporate Finance category.
Our Corporate Services Practice specialises in providing company secretarial services, governance, advisory and compliance audit services and other specialised corporate services in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. This is done through our in-house entities Stamford Corporate Services LLP and Stamford Services Ltd.
We draw on our knowledge of the local business environment and in-depth understanding of the socio-political climate to advise clients on a wide range of issues including company secretarial matters, entity set-up, entity dissolution, management of meetings, governance audits, governance advisory and training, board evaluation, corporate trustee and administration and escrow agent services.
We are experts in compliance management and reporting and are conversant with the laws and regulations that apply to companies doing business in East Africa. The team is supported by a highly qualified and experienced multi-disciplinary team of legal advisors across our East African footprint.
We integrate and coordinate our advice and provide our clients with a seamless approach to local and cross-border assignments. We are respected for our integrity, efficiency, sound knowledge base and reliability.
We have extensive experience in dealing with various regulatory bodies in East Africa including the Registrar of Companies, the Capital Markets Authority, the Nairobi Securities Exchange, the Central Depositories and Settlement Corporation (CDSC), the Central Banks, sector regulators, and the local tax authorities.
Our clients include listed and unlisted companies, local and foreign private companies, branches of foreign companies and other private and public-sector entities and organisations.
Complex working relationships among individuals, companies and other organisations means that disagreements are inevitable. This is particularly true when people from diverse cultures work together in a competitive marketplace. Thus, the risk that cross-border business activities will result in disputes in unfamiliar jurisdictions is real.
We are proud to be regarded as one of the pre-eminent dispute resolution teams in Africa.
The size of our team means that we are able to offer a high degree of specialisation across a variety of areas, with particular experience in:
Our clients include large national clients in African jurisdictions where we have representation as well as multinationals and international law firms acting on their behalf, non-government entities, governments, state-owned entities and financial institutions.
The drive by governments in Sub-Saharan Africa to stimulate employment, protect workers’ rights and address historical imbalances has produced a variety of distinct regulatory systems for employment in the region. This is made more complex by a strong culture of collective bargaining, and an overlap between labour and social issues, between strikes and social protest across the region.
We have been at the forefront of employment law in the region for many years. We offer a breadth and depth of knowledge and experience in the fields of industrial relations, employment, employee benefits and pensions law in Africa that is hard to match.
According to Legal 500 we have, ‘a tremendous record in South Africa and East Africa, providing “excellent turnaround times”, “a professional service” and an “in-depth understanding” of clients’ businesses and subject matter’.
We keep our clients at the forefront of developments in employment laws, regularly contribute to employment law publications and provide training and present lectures in a variety of forums.
We deliver the following specialist employment law services across both the public and the private sectors in the African countries in which we operate.
With a robust historical economic growth rate and a middle class population of over 35 million, East Africa remains an investment destination of choice for investors seeking to expand their operations into Africa.
The entry of multiple brands into the region has made the ability to register and protect the rights that investors and clients obtain in their products, services and brands an essential success component in the business environment.
Securing a knowledgeable and experienced legal adviser who understands the local complexities with the appropriate track record in navigating the legal landscape is pivotal to this success.
Working as one team coordinated across three jurisdictional offices, our unparalleled dedicated East Africa Intellectual Property (IP) Practice handles:
We act for clients both locally and internationally under the Madrid and ARIPO systems of registration, and help our clients with national protection in other countries worldwide through a network of associate agent law firms.
Our clients include leading multinationals from around the world within the financial services, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, and technology, media and telecommunications sectors.
