Africa

Morrison Foerster is poised to serve markets in Africa in a broad range of practice areas, including project finance and project development, other lending and financial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, FCPA and anti-corruption issues, dispute resolution, and privacy and data protection, across a variety of sectors including energy and technology. We have worked in common law and civil law jurisdictions across the African continent, and our clients include multinational financial companies, development finance institutions, energy conglomerates, and technology providers, among many others.

Our lawyers have a deep understanding of the cultural, political, and commercial environment in various jurisdictions throughout Africa, close relationships with leading local law firms, relevant language capabilities, and experience training and working in Africa.

Members of our team have worked on 100+ representative matters in Africa across multiple disciplines including:

• Agency Finance. Our market-leading Agency Finance practice focuses on complex cross-border financing transactions in emerging markets worldwide. The group advises development finance institutions, multilateral agencies, regional development banks, and export credit agencies in their funding of essential projects across various sectors, including renewables, infrastructure, telecommunications, microfinance, housing, education, hospitality, and investment funds. Multiple members of our team have been recognized by prominent ranking organizations as leading practitioners for project and agency finance, and the practice is ranked Band 1 by Chambers Global for Agency Finance.
• Project Finance. Our Project Finance lawyers assist clients in all aspects of the development, construction, financing, restructuring, and purchase and sale of energy and infrastructure projects around the world. We also provide political risk insurance counseling where our expertise lies in policy drafting and analysis of loan documents and transactional documents for insured projects. Our leading international arbitration and dispute resolution attorneys regularly assist our clients in resolving disputes concerning project-financed assets. We work on a broad range of energy and infrastructure projects, and we are familiar with the complexities and challenges that arise in the context of investment in Africa.
• Disputes. We have significant experience representing investors and state parties in investor-state and commercial arbitration proceedings relating to investments and infrastructure in Africa. We advise clients on dispute settlement and resolution strategies in various sectors throughout the region, including mining, power, and hospitality. Our team has experience overseeing domestic court proceedings as well as on-the-ground experience litigating and managing disputes in East Africa.
• Investigations + White Collar. MoFo’s Investigations + White Collar Defense Group is comprised of former prosecutors and government regulators, former in-house counsel, and veteran defense lawyers who assist clients with: internal investigations; defense before DOJ, SEC, and non-U.S. regulatory authorities; real-time practical advice and legal opinions; individual representation; training of boards, senior managers, and employees; risk assessments; and the design, testing, and implementation of compliance programs. We are known for the breadth of our practice, and have handled matters involving alleged FCPA and related anti-corruption issues, sanctions and export control violations, CFIUS, government procurement fraud, securities fraud, accounting fraud, insider trading, antitrust violations, and consumer protection, among others. We have particular strength in Africa, with team members who have led investigations involving Angola, Cameroon, Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Libya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sao Tome e Principe, and Uganda, among other jurisdictions within the region. Our team also includes a former member of the U.S. delegation that conducted the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Working Group on Bribery’s review of South Africa.
• Corporate/M&A. We are a worldwide leader in representing corporations, funds, investment banks, and other entities as they engage in a wide range of transactions. With more than 280 lawyers across 18 offices worldwide, our Corporate Department is comprised of strong specialized practice areas, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity funds, private equity investments and buyouts, corporate governance, capital raising, and public companies counseling.
• Emerging Companies + Venture Capital. Our firm has 170+ lawyers located in key global business centers advising startups, emerging and growth companies, and venture capital funds, corporate venture capital clients, and other financing sources. We assist companies with a full range of services, including initial formation and financings, late-stage financings, secondary transactions and investments, mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, strategic alliances and joint ventures, licensing deals, commercial contracts, patent prosecution, executive compensation, labor and employment, and corporate governance.
• Technology Transactions. We are recognized as one of the world’s leading global law firms for technology transactions. Our global Technology Transactions Group structures and negotiates agreements and provides sophisticated business advice on the legal and commercial issues that arise in complex multijurisdictional technology and IP-related transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, software and information technology licensing and procurement, patent licensing and monetization, outsourcing arrangements, and development, collaboration, joint-venture, and distribution deals.