A delegation of UK lawyers led by UK Justice Minister Mike Freer, and supported by members of both the UK GREAT Legal Services campaign and Africa Legal, will participate in the events along with a number of top East African legal practitioners.
GREAT Legal Services brings legal professionals together to partner and collaborate, and they see these specific events as the doorway to much stronger relationships between East Africa and the UK.
Among other events, Africa Legal and GREAT Legal Services will host managing partners’ roundtables in both Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, as well as a finance sector and regulatory roundtable and GC panel in Nairobi.
Replicating the success of the co-hosted Johannesburg 2022 roundtable, the closed-door managing partner roundtables’ will facilitate a frank discussion between leaders of East African law firms and their UK counterparts on key issues related to driving better collaboration between UK and East African law firms. They will cover knowledge exchange and best practices, which key sectors are primed for legal cooperation, and the collaborative efficiencies around fee splits and ensuring equity.
The finance sector and regulatory-focused roundtable will bring together leading local industry experts to discuss, alongside UK delegation counterparts, the key issues driving change and opportunity in East Africa. They will address aspects such as global financial regulation standards, private equity and venture capital flow, and the impact of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement on both. With the event being held in the special economic zone (SEZ) of Nairobi, discussion will also highlight the value of special economic zones for UK entities.
The GC panel event will bring together a number of East African in-house legal leaders who will discuss their requirements for effective collaboration between UK and East-African law firms. The panel will address questions like: What does the modern East African GC demand from their legal advisers? Are there lessons or trends from the international legal landscape they want to see more of in East African markets? How can firms working across borders ensure maximum transparency?
Following on from the roundtable and panel events, there will be networking opportunities in both Kenya and Tanzania, assembling legal professionals from across the regions to provide another chance to build relationships.
The MOJ GREAT Legal Services campaign is committed to fostering strong relationships between legal colleagues across the globe. With a presence in over 30 countries, including across Africa, these gatherings build on this commitment, increasing UK and East African legal services collaboration and trade.
The events add to the work MOJ and GREAT Legal Services have already led in the region in collaboration with Africa Legal, including creating free online legal skills development courses, commissioning a research report on the state of alternative dispute resolution in Africa that was presented and discussed at a roundtable during London International Disputes Week, and the recent Africa Energy Dispute Resolution Roundtable held in Paris which was attended by a number of African representatives.
To stay up to date on UK MOJ Legal Services events, follow GREAT Legal Services. To hear more about the East African event series please contact Africa Legal by emailing admin@africa-legal.com.
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