Bowmans

About Bowmans

Bowmans is a leading African law firm with offices in Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, Alliance firms in Ethiopia and Nigeria, special relationships with leading firms in Malawi and Mozambique, and a non-exclusive co-operation agreement with French international law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel.

The firm helps its clients manage legal complexity and unlock opportunity in Africa. Its enviable track record of providing legal services to the highest professional standards on the continent, spans a range of disciplines.

With over 400 specialist lawyers, Bowmans draws on its unique knowledge of the business and socio-political environment in Africa to advise on a wide range of legal issues.

Everywhere it operates, Bowmans offers its clients a service that uniquely blends expertise in the law, knowledge of the local market, and an understanding of their businesses. The firm’s aim is to assist its clients to achieve their objectives as smoothly and efficiently as possible while minimising the legal and regulatory risks.

About Bowmans ESG offering

Bowmans advises banks, impact investors, asset managers, fund managers, industry bodies, regulators and governments on the legal aspects of impact, sustainability and ESG matters in Africa.

In the M&A space, the firm advises asset managers, fund managers, lenders and borrowers on transactions across asset classes and sectors, on every stage of the investment process, from design and formation to measurement and exit. The firm is also equipped to advise industry bodies, regulators and governments on partnering for impact, which has significant potential to drive sustainable development on the African continent.

Bowmans lawyers have contributed towards frameworks such as the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), UNEP FI and The Generation Foundation’s research on legal frameworks for investing. Its lawyers work closely with the Grunin Centre for Law and Social Entrepreneurship at New York University School of Law and the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Cape Town.

The firm’s impact, sustainability and ESG service offering includes:

• Bank financing
• Debt capital markets
• Due diligence
• Governance
• Impact investment structuring and fund formation
• Impact measurement and management (IMM)
• Impact M&A
• Organisational form
• Regulatory
• Sector-specific expertise
• Stewardship

	October 2021: African Infrastructure developments – Beyond traditional financing   This report explores the possibilities of harnessing transition finance to link sustainability ambitions with infrastructure development across a diversity of sectors, from extractives and materials to transportation and energy production. Click Here
	July 2021: Is the blockchain a player in renewable energy in Africa? Exploring decentralised technology for the continent’s energy transition   Many African utilities are failing to meet the energy needs of citizens, calling into question the effectiveness of the standard centralised mode of energy delivery. This report assesses the blockchain as a player in renewable energy in Africa and explores decentralised technology for the continent’s energy transition. Click Here
	January 2021: Pathways to sustainable seas – Governing the ocean as a commons   This report applies transition theory to ocean governance. It explains how ecological stressors give rise to innovations and outlines ways that these innovations can be taken up to support transitions to greater sustainability, thereby enabling a thriving and vibrant relationship between humans and the ocean. Click Here
	October 2020: Food systems in Africa – Bringing COVID-19 response in line with Africa’s unique food challenges   This report goes back to basics – food security, which is under threat from many quarters. The continent must play to its strengths in ‘scaling out the small scale’ and invest in non-production activities such as processing, transportation and marketing, to effect meaningful improvements. Click Here
	August 2020: Urban development – the transformation of African cities   Africa is the most rapidly urbanising continent in the world – 50% of Africans will be living in urban areas by 2035. This report delves into the phenomenon of African urbanization uncovering the unique nature of cities on this continent as well as some of the associated difficulties and opportunities. Click Here
	June 2020: Transformational infrastructure for sustainable development in Africa   The shortcomings in infrastructure development across Africa are well known, but there is a flipside to this. With three-quarters of the continent’s infrastructure yet to be built, there is an opportunity to leapfrog straight to a more sustainable, inclusive society in ways that elude developed regions with aging legacy installations. This report investigates further. Click Here
	May 2020: Energy transitions in South and East Africa – The potential and impact of renewable energy as a catalyst for change   There are clear signs of an accelerating global energy shift from fossil fuels towards renewables. As this shift gains momentum, African economies that are heavily reliant on fossil fuel extraction could find they have as much to gain as to lose. This report explores the opportunities and challenges that accompany the energy transition. Click Here
	February 2022: A new approach to financing Africa’s transition in an equitable way   This report provides a glimpse into some of the opportunities that the continent could unlock, contributing to new narratives around what is possible in the sphere of sustainable finance. Click Here