Africa

Increasing urbanisation in Africa, a growing middle class and more disposable income are creating new hotspots and market opportunities.

Investors need to be more precise and thoughtful about what they want to invest in, whether it is a specific sector, country, or region.

We recognise that the political and regulatory environment can often be a barrier to growing companies. We have experience advising in numerous African jurisdictions and we can assist you with your transactions and investment activity, as well as fund formation and capital raising.

We’re here to help you navigate the opportunities and challenges of some of the world’s fastest-growing and most dynamic economies.

Whether you’re an international corporate, institution, asset manager, investor or individual, we can support your business interests across Africa, including Corporate and M&A, Investment Funds, Real Estate and Construction, Litigation and Dispute Resolution, and Private Client services.

Our Africa team includes lawyers in our London, European and Middle Eastern offices, many of whom have lived and worked in Africa. We provide a multi-disciplinary approach backed by a deep understanding of the key growth sectors on the continent.

We’ve built strong relationships with some of Africa’s leading law firms and professional advisers to provide ‘on the ground’ advice if you need local support. We regularly partner with them on events and insights to ensure our clients are up-to-date on the issues that affect them.

Francophone Africa

Francophone Africa includes some of the most dynamic and complex markets on the continent. 

Our multidisciplinary Francophone Africa team – including lawyers in Paris, Luxembourg, Geneva, and London – has a long history advising clients in key markets including OHADA Treaty Countries, Mauritius, Rwanda, and Tunisia.

Our team has a depth of knowledge in key sectors including sports, hospitality, real estate, energy, and private wealth. We can advise you across a range of legal services including corporate, tax, dispute resolution, international arbitration and private client. 

We have worked alongside leading investors in the region including BIO (Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries), STOA (French impact infrastructure fund), Proparco (the private sector arm of the French Development Agency), and the Mauritius Commercial Bank’s Equity division. 

This is a fascinating time of growth for key markets with increasing private capital activity, infrastructure investment, the development of local financial markets, as well as the ongoing important of diaspora investment. Recent years have also brought an increase in impact investing with investors looking to generate social and environmental impact alongside financial return. This is something we know well as founding members of the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers.

We understand the cultural nuances of doing business in these diverse Francophone African markets and work alongside local counsel as needed to provide you with a complete and commercial perspective.

Our experience

M-Kopa

M-Kopa, the world’s leading ‘pay-as-you-go’ energy provider to off grid homes, required advice on a receivables based syndicated loan of USD $55million, backed by Standard Bank, covering Kenya and Uganda. This innovative facility, the first of its kind, is being deployed primarily into off-grid households, with per capita income of less than US$2 per day. We were involved in from the pre-term sheet stage and assisted with the structuring of the transaction both in terms of the financing technique and security structure but also in relation to fit for the business (pre and post restructuring).  Understanding the business model of the borrower and their likely cashflows enabled us to make changes to the proposed financing to better fit the business. We worked with local counsel in each jurisdiction.

Daystar Power Group

We advised Daystar Power Group and its founder, Sunray Ventures, on the acquisition of a $10 million equity stake in Daystar by Verod Capital Management and Persistent Energy (Persistent).

Daystar Power Group is a pan-African electricity company specialising in the generation of solar energy. The deal involved the issuance of a minority stake in Daystar to Verod, a West African private equity firm and Persistent, a pioneer investor in the off-grid sector.

This deal demonstrates our recent and growing strength in acting for companies in emerging markets, particularly in Africa.

AgDevCo

AgDevCo, a specialist impact investor in African agribusinesses has called for our advice on a number of matters, including:

• its recent $70m equity funding from the CDC Group, and Norfund which will allow AgDevCo to continue to grow its investment activities in agriculture across Sub-Saharan Africa.
• regarding Oba Pack Company Limited, a Ghanaian-owned agribusiness, purchase of the Babator Farming Company Limited (BFC). Prior to the sale, AgDevCo Limited was the sole owner of BFC.
• on various investments across Africa, for example into Minimex Limited, one of Rwanda's leading producers of maize product, and the second into the development of a commercial pig farm in Kampala, Uganda.

Awards and Memberships

• Winner of Best Legal Services: Private Equity – Pan-Africa - AGF Africa Service Providers Awards 2023
• Shortlisted for the Shapeshifter Award – AVCA 20th Anniversary Conference Awards 2024
• Shortlisted for Deals Legal Advisor of the Year – Private Equity Africa Awards 2024
• Member of, and partner with, Invest Africa