Team size: Nine

Jurisdictions your role covers: Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia

Q&A

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in? 

One of the most significant transactions I recently spearheaded was a strategic shareholder sale transaction, supporting the sale by Capital Works of its majority shareholding to Adenia Partners, facilitating Adenia’s acquisition of interests in nine Minet subsidiaries across the region. The transaction required end-to-end legal oversight across shareholder approvals, corporate governance, regulatory notifications and director appointments, while ensuring the restructuring remained compliant with applicable regulatory requirements and aligned with the Group’s broader strategic objectives.

What strategies has your legal team adopted to mitigate legal and regulatory risks in a rapidly evolving business and political environment? 

We manage legal and regulatory risk by positioning Legal as a strategic business partner and bringing Legal into business discussions while decisions are still being shaped, rather than reviewing them once decisions have already been made. We work closely across the Legal, Compliance and Investigations functions to identify emerging risks early, assess their potential business impact and provide practical, commercially focused advice that enables the business to make informed decisions. 

In a rapidly evolving regulatory and political environment, we also focus on anticipating change rather than simply reacting to it. Over the past year, we have enhanced our AML and KYC controls, strengthened governance processes and supported the business in navigating emerging legal and regulatory requirements across our markets which transcends 9 sub-Sahara Africa countries. Importantly, we measure the effectiveness of these interventions through outcomes.  

Ultimately, our approach is to ensure that Legal is not simply a control function, but an enabler of responsible growth — helping the business understand its risk appetite, anticipate regulatory developments and pursue opportunities while remaining compliant and well governed.

In light of increasing regulatory scrutiny across sectors in East Africa, how are you adapting your compliance frameworks to stay ahead of change?

Our approach has been to move beyond compliance as a reporting obligation and embed it into day-to-day decision-making across the business.  

During the year, we reviewed and strengthened our compliance framework, enhanced our AML/CFT processes, maintained close relationships with regulators, and ensured timely fulfilment of licensing and statutory reporting obligations. We also strengthened internal governance through policy reviews, quality management initiatives and closer collaboration between the Legal, Compliance and business teams. 

We keep abreast of legislative and regulatory developments that may affect the business by continuously monitoring proposed legislation, regulatory guidelines and industry developments, assessing their potential impact, and updating our policies, processes and internal guidance where necessary. Where appropriate, we also participate in policy discussions through industry associations such as the Association of Insurance Brokers of Kenya (AIBK), contributing practical industry perspectives on proposed legislative and regulatory changes affecting the insurance sector. These engagements provide valuable insight into emerging regulatory developments and help ensure our compliance framework evolves alongside the changing legal and regulatory landscape.

How is the role of the General Counsel evolving in East Africa as organisations place greater emphasis on governance, transparency and ESG considerations? 

I think the role of the General Counsel in East Africa is evolving from being primarily a legal advisory function to becoming a broader strategic, governance and risk leadership role. As organisations operate across multiple jurisdictions, the General Counsel increasingly needs to understand not only the law, but also the regulatory, political, commercial and reputational environment in which the business operates. 

Governance and transparency are becoming particularly important. Boards and shareholders expect the General Counsel to help strengthen governance frameworks, ensure appropriate board oversight and decision-making, improve accountability and transparency, and ensure that the organisation is able to demonstrate that it is operating within both the law and appropriate governance standards. 

ESG issues such as data privacy, responsible business practices, supply-chain conduct, anti-bribery and corruption, and stakeholder expectations increasingly have a legal and regulatory dimension. The General Counsel therefore has an important role in translating these broader ESG expectations into practical policies, controls and governance frameworks that the business can actually implement. 

In East Africa specifically, I think the challenge is also managing regulatory complexity across different markets. We are seeing regulators become more sophisticated and increasingly focused on areas such as beneficial ownership, AML/KYC, consumer protection, data protection, competition and corporate governance. The GC needs to anticipate these developments rather than simply respond to them once they become issues. 

For me, the evolution is ultimately about moving from being the organisation’s legal gatekeeper to being a strategic enabler.