Nigerian arbitrator Funke Adekoye and Mozambican lawyer José Manuel Caldeira, who share eighty years of legal expertise between them, were honoured with Lifetime Achievement Awards, among 32 different categories presented at the Chambers Africa Awards 2025.
Adekoye, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) with almost a half century of helping clients with sensitive and high-stakes disputes, was praised for being “a pioneer in the arbitration space” and “one of the most knowledgeable and respected practitioners in the market”.
A founding member of the Mozambique Bar, and now Senior Partner at DLA Piper Africa, Mozambique (SAL & Caldeira Advogados, Lda), Caldeira was feted for his wide-ranging practice, included advising on legal reform for government ministries and agencies since the early 1990s. Peers acknowledge him as a “true reference in Mozambique’s leadership”.
The ongoing evolution, growth, and strengthening of African legal practice was also on show at the Chambers Awards, as four new Law Firm of the Year categories were added in 2025, for outstanding achievements by law firms in Botswana, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Senegal.
The Awards, which celebrate top law firms across key African jurisdictions who are at the forefront of innovation and excellence, recognise exceptional legal expertise and casework, remarkable strategic growth and expansion, and superior client service and delivery.
Bowmans, a preeminent African firm with nine offices in six countries and over 500 specialist lawyers, was a big winner, scooping Kenya Full-Service Law Firm of the Year: Transactional, Africa Full-Service Law Firm of the Year: Transactional, and Tanzania Law Firm of the Year.
“These awards highlight our unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional legal services,” said Ezra Davids, Chairman and Senior Partner at Bowmans.
It was a repeat for Bowmans Tanzania, who under the leadership of Managing Partner Michael Strain were also named Tanzania Law Firm of the Year in 2024. The firm was praised for establishing itself as a market leader and for its impressive track record spanning M&A, financing, and complex litigation. “For the second consecutive year, we are absolutely delighted to have been awarded the prestigious accolade,” said Strain.
Among the new jurisdictions honoured at the Chambers Africa Awards 2025, Minchin & Kelly, with a history stretching back more than 130 years, won Botswana Law Firm of the Year, while relatively new firm Aman & Partners LLP won Ethiopia Law Firm of the Year and was praised for being “at the forefront of Ethiopia’s fast-developing regulatory regime”.
The inaugural Rwanda Law Firm of the Year Award went to K-Solutions & Partners, a firm “highly sought after by a roster of premier financial institutions, private equity funds and development banks”, while GENI & KEBE, who have “an enviable track record advising on high-stake cases” became the first-ever winner of Senegal Law Firm of the Year.
Alongside Funke Adekoya and José Manuel Caldeira, the other individual African lawyers honoured at the Chambers Africa Awards 2025 were Webber Wentzel partner Dario Milo, a media law expert who received the Outstanding Contribution Award, and Cameroon-based Vanessa de Happi, who advises “an impressive roster of clients” on cross-border M&A, financing, employment and regulatory matters, and won Up-and-coming Lawyer of the Year.
A full list of Chambers Africa Awards 2025 winners and finalists is available here.