Africa focus: Rising again?

While the same old story of political volatility continues to pervade in Africa, a bullish M&A market and renewed optimism driven by a pan-Africa trade agreement makes the continent hard to ignore for law firms.

For Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), an ongoing commitment to Africa has played an important role in galvanising its place among global firms. London and Paris offices have targeted the continent for decades, while the launch of a Johannesburg office in 2015 took its ambitions a step further. Nina Bowyer, the Paris-based co-head of HSF’s Africa group is very much alive to the challenges: ‘Obviously, Covid has crippled a number of economies across the world and Africa is no exception. Finding the necessary resources to tackle some of the challenges will continue to be difficult.