{"id":227082,"date":"2025-09-04T16:36:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T16:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/events\/?post_type=event_report&p=227082"},"modified":"2025-09-05T08:00:24","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T08:00:24","slug":"gc-powerlist-east-africa-2025","status":"publish","type":"event_report","link":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/events\/report\/gc-powerlist-east-africa-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"GC Powerlist: East Africa 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Legal 500 was proud to host the second edition of the GC Powerlist: East Africa 2025 in Nairobi, honouring the top General Counsel, Chief Legal Officers, Legal Directors, and senior in-house legal professionals across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda. This year\u2019s reception brought together over 100 of the most influential and innovative corporate counsel from the region, and was an unrivalled success, cementing Legal 500\u2019s role as the leading voice in recognising in-house legal excellence across Africa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The evening was opened by Joe Boswell, lead editor of the GC Powerlist publication at Legal 500, who highlighted the growing prestige of the East Africa edition and the increasing challenge of selecting honourees from such a deep (and rapidly growing) pool of talent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Guests were then treated to some particularly relevant insights from distinguished speakers. Rachel Musoke, Head of ENS Uganda, delivered a thoughtful welcome that reflected on the importance of collaboration between private practice and in-house teams. This was followed by a powerful keynote from Habil Waswani, Company Secretary & Director Legal Services and Regulatory Compliance at Kenya Airways, who shared reflections on leadership, regulatory stewardship, and the evolving role of corporate counsel in East Africa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The highlight of the evening was the certificate ceremony, where this year\u2019s honourees were formally recognised. Certificates were presented by senior representatives of ENS, including D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Kamanzi (Head of Rwanda), Rachel Musoke, Nigel Shaw (Head of Kenya), Donald Nyakairu (Executive, Uganda), Dieudonne Nzafashwanayo (Executive, Rwanda), Rahema Nakirya Ssemyalo (Executive, Uganda) and Binti Shah (Executive, Kenya) whose participation underlined the depth of the firm\u2019s support for the GC Powerlist initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The GC Powerlist: East Africa 2025 reaffirmed The Legal 500\u2019s commitment to shining a spotlight on the region\u2019s most talented in-house lawyers. With an even stronger field of candidates, this year\u2019s edition stands as a powerful testament to the influence and expertise of East Africa\u2019s legal leaders. Habil Waswani\u2019s excellent speech, which got a raucous reception from those in the room, is reproduced below with his permission:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2018My name is Habil Waswani, and I have been an inhouse legal practitioner for the past 21 years in different sectors (having done law-firm practice for 2 years before that). Tt is indeed a true privilege and honour for me to be here tonight, surrounded by the sharpest legal minds and calmest crisis-handlers the East African corporate world has to offer.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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First, let me thank the Legal 500 and ENSAfrica teams, for organising such a fantastic event and for bringing us together in such style. Congratulations<\/span> to each of tonight\u2019s honourees. You represent the very best of general counsel in this very dynamic corporate space the businesses we support operate in. Strategic, ethical, resilient, and, let\u2019s be honest, often underappreciated leaders of industry.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I am so happy that this evening is not about contracts, or compliance checklists, or board packs. Tonight is about celebrating you, the people behind all of that. The steady hands guiding companies through complexities, uncertainties, and ensuring that the opportunities that lie within those difficult circumstances are lawfully realized.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We all know the role of GCs has evolved. We are no longer tucked away at the end of a corridor marked \u201cLegal\u201d or labelled the proverbial \u201ccost centres\u201d. These days, the GCs sit at the big table – helping drive corporate strategy, shaping desired culture, providing leadership and safeguarding business reputations. We have become indispensable partners to businesses, interpreters, navigators, protectors… and on some (many) days, therapists with law degrees. And yet, we mostly do it all so quietly. No victory laps, no press releases. Often, success for us means the expected disaster didn\u2019t happen.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But tonight, we break that rule. Tonight, we raise a glass to the GCs who\u2019ve blazed the trail courageously, with clarity, conviction, and tremendous resilience that only matches the expectations of the Leadership Guru John Maxwell when he said, “resilient leaders don\u2019t wait for the storm to past \u2014 they learn to dance in the rain”. You have managed to balance growth and governance, risk and reward regularly. And, of course, always managed to deal with those 10pm messages: \u201cHey, just a quick question…Are you able to talk right now\u2026?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Let this evening serve as a reminder that you are not just experienced legal advisors. You are leaders \u2014 spear heads and enablers of execution \u2014 and without a doubt critical pillars of business strategy.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To all the honourees, congratulations<\/span> once again for the well-deserved recognition. This is for the heavy lifting that you do, the standards you uphold, and the impact you make – quietly, consistently, and brilliantly so. You\u2019ve earned this spotlight.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

And now, let\u2019s gather and celebrate this milestone. And while we\u2019re at it I plead with you to stay away from your phones \u2026you might just spot a message that says, \u201cplease quickly review this and we can discuss your views in the morning?\u201d<\/i><\/div>\n
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