Firm Profile > Mesfin Tafesse & Associates Law Office (MTA) > Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Mesfin Tafesse & Associates Law Office (MTA) Offices
A TENSAE BUILDING, 2ND FLOOR
OFFICE NO. 002, BOLE ROAD, GENERAL SEARE MEKONNEN AVENUE, P P.O. Box 8867
ADDIS ABABA
Ethiopia
Mesfin Tafesse & Associates Law Office (MTA) > The Legal 500 Rankings
Leading firms Tier 1
Mesfin Tafesse & Associates Law Office (MTA) is a member of the Africa Legal Network, an alliance of independent African firms, founded by leading Kenya firm Anjarwalla & Khanna. The Ethiopia firm has built an impressive client base of multinationals and local businesses. It has advised on a series of major M&A transactions and private equity investments, along with power and infrastructure projects, including PPPs. It has achieved further growth in renewable energy and telecoms. Mesfin Tafesse is a genuine leader in the market, particularly in representing foreign multinationals in corporate transactions. Wossenyeleh Tigu covers both corporate transactions and disputes, and Deborah Haddis provides additional support at associate level.
Practice head(s):
Mesfin Tafesse
Other key lawyers:
Wossenyeleh Tigu; Deborah Haddis
Testimonials
‘Mesfin Tafesse is a consummate professional. He is smart, thorough, careful, prompt in his responses and he is willing to think creatively to find solutions for tough challenges. He was appropriate about delegating certain work to associates like Deborah Haddis and is always available himself for any matter requiring his experience and judgment.’
‘Ethiopia is a tough place to do business and I can’t imagine a better law firm, or a better team than Mesfin and Deborah. Both have gone above and beyond for us time and time again.’
Key clients
Wilmar International
Capital 54
Veris Investments
Heineken
Enel Green Power
International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Cerebus
YARA
Zoscales
Agence France De Development (AFD-Group)
DHL Express
Dummen Orange
Mesfin Tafesse & Associates Law Office (MTA) > Firm Profile
The firm: Mesfin Tafesse and Associates (MTA) is a leading law office in Ethiopia providing high-quality legal advisory services in the areas of commercial and investment laws. MTA provides a full package of legal services to its corporate clients in the areas of M&A, banking and finance, power and energy, mining, construction and manufacturing, taxation, intellectual property, hospitality, IT, telecoms and civil society. MTA provides specialised corporate services to help clients make legally sound decisions. It is a member of the African Legal Network, a premier alliance of top-tier independent law firms in Africa.
MTA’s values are integrity, teamwork and excellence. It strictly adheres to what is permissible under the law as well as the accepted rules of the legal profession. It is committed to pool together and make available the best expertise from each of the professionals in MTA to provide a high quality of work that is aimed at exceeding clients’ expectations.
Areas of practice: Mesfin Tafesse & Associates is a corporate law office that provides a one-stop shop legal service including legal advisory services, representation, drafting legal documents, assisting in business negotiations, facilitation of local presence, facilitation of liquidation and legal research. Over the years, the office has acted for and assisted numerous clients in carrying out due diligence studies on mergers and acquisitions in Ethiopia.
In particular, the office has a well advanced expertise in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, mining, investment, power and energy. In recent years, the firm’s practice in power and energy has expanded through its work on advising clients seeking to enter the energy market in Ethiopia, its support for international finance co-operation and its role in advising the government on drafting the public-private partnership legislation.
The office also has substantial experience advising on in-bound investment in the country through advice for international clients entering the Ethiopian markets.
In addition to the above mentioned services, the office provides up-to-date legal information by publishing monthly ‘Legal Updates’, an analysis of new laws and developments in the legal system. A full list of previous legal updates is available on the office’s website.
The firm’s principal attorney, Mr. Mesfin Tafesse, was the lead local advisor to the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation (MOFEC) in relation to the development of draft legislation on Public Private Partnership (PPP).
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mining | Mesfin Tafesse | mtafesse@mtalawoffice.com | |
| Investment/commercial law | Mesfin Tafesse | mtafesse@mtalawoffice.com | |
| Mergers and acquisitions | Deborah Haddis | dhaddis@mtalawoffice.com | |
| Investment/commercial law | Deborah Haddis | dhaddis@mtalawoffice.com | |
| Tax | Haymanot Belay | hbelay@mtalawoffice.com | |
| Banking and finance | Haymanot Belay | hbelay@mtalawoffice.com | |
| ICT and Telecoms | Wossenyeleh Tigu | wtigu@mtalawoffice.com | |
| Power and Energy | Atkilit Bekele | abekele@mtalawoffice.com | |
| Intellectual property | Atikilt Bekele | abekele@mtalawoffice.com | |
| Labour | Wossenyeleh Tigu | wtigu@mtalawoffice.com | |
| Construction and real estate | Wossenyeleh Tigu | wtigu@mtalawoffice.com | |
| Arbitration | Wossenyeleh Tigu | wtigu@mtalawoffice.com |
Lawyer Profiles
| Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Atkilit Bekel | Associate | View Profile |
 |
Haymanot Belay | Associate | View Profile |
 |
Deborah Haddis | Associate | View Profile |
 |
Mesfin Tafesse | Principal Attorney | View Profile |
 |
Wossenyeleh Tigu | Consultant and Attorney at Law | View Profile |
Staff Figures
Number of lawyers : 12Languages
Amharic EnglishMemberships
African Legal Network Employment Law AllianceInternational Capabilities
Mesfin Tafesse and Associates (MTA) is a leading corporate law office in Ethiopia.
The Clients
MTA has assisted various clients from different countries, including;
- The world’s largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners based in USA
- One of the biggest banks in India
- The biggest global brewery based in Netherlands
- Various international non-profit organizations and charities
- Asia’s leading agribusiness group
- International financial institutions
- One of the world’s leading logistics company
The Network
MTA is a member of African Legal Network, a premier alliance of top-tier independent law firms in Africa. This network has a presence in Madagascar, Mauritius, Nigeria, UAE, Kenya, Morocco, Algeria, Tanzania, Guinea, Mozambique, Malawi, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia.
MTA is also a member of Employment Law Alliance, an international network of law firms operating in the sector of employment and immigration laws.
Diversity
Diversity
Mesfin Tafesse and Associates (MTA) is an inclusive workplace, welcoming to people of all backgrounds. MTA believes diversity drives innovation. Hence, it is building a culture where difference is valued. MTA’s 40% of staff member are women and MTA’s attorney composition ranges from recent graduate junior associates to 20-30 years experienced attorneys.
MTA staff consists of persons having different cultural, religious, social and political outlook. All staff members of MTA are valued and treated equally regardless of their age, sex, religion, ethnicity, and outlook. No discrimination is acceptable at MTA based on such grounds.
MTA is determined and strives to further ensure inclusion and diversification of its staff members. MTA values the contribution of each and every staff member.
Pro Bono and Corporate Social Responsibility
MTA believes pro bono service is a way of giving back to the community. MTA emphasizes that pro bono service is not a favour to the community rather an opportunity and ethical responsibility of attorneys to serve the community. While this is the primary motivation, for MTA, to provide pro bono service, MTA also identifies pro bono service as a way of recognition and building its brand as well as image which thereby leads to more business opportunities.
MTA has been providing pro bono services to date. MTA has assisted various clients on pro bono basis on different sectors including education, child right and environmental protection.
MTA is determined to discharge its corporate social responsibilities and so far has been contributing financially to health institutions in Ethiopia in relation to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, MTA has also been engaged in providing trainings and donation of books to a law school at one of the universities in Ethiopia.