Esther Gathoni Kariuki is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya with over 11 years’ post-qualification experience advising international and local clients on complex legal, regulatory, and governance matters. She holds a master’s in business administration from Strathmore University Business School and an LLB from the University of Nairobi.

She currently serves as senior legal counsel, Africa, at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT (the Alliance). In this role, Esther oversees the Alliance’s legal affairs across 20 African countries. She has played a pivotal role in negotiating host country agreements with multiple African governments and has successfully negotiated high-value funding contracts to support research in agriculture, climate change, biodiversity, food security, and nutrition across the region.

As the first dedicated counsel for the Alliance in Africa, Esther has led initiatives to review and harmonise employment policies, contracting templates, and tax practices across multiple jurisdictions. Prior to this, she was a senior associate at Dentons Hamilton Harrison & Mathews, where she represented clients in high-value litigation and dispute resolution, advised on complex commercial and regulatory matters, and contributed to precedent-setting cases. She also co-authored the Kenya litigation practice guides in 2017 and 2019.

Esther is passionate about the role of law in fostering economic and social development in Africa, and she combines legal expertise with a solutions-oriented approach to deliver measurable results and impact.