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Bowmans helps its clients manage legal complexity and unlock opportunities in Africa. Its enviable track record of providing legal services to the highest professional standards on the continent, spans corporate, finance, competition, taxation, employment, technology, and dispute resolution matters.

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.

The firm delivers integrated legal services from eight offices (Cape Town, Dar es Salaam, Durban, Johannesburg, Kampala, Lusaka, Moka, and Nairobi) in six countries (Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia).

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 minimizing the legal and regulatory risks.

Bowmans works closely with its Alliance firms, Aman Assefa & Associates Law Office in Ethiopia, and Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie in Nigeria. The firm has special relationships with PFI Partnerships in Malawi, and Taciana Peão Lopes & Advogados Associados in Mozambique; a non-exclusive co-operation agreement with French international law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel that provides access to lawyers in francophone west and north Africa; regularly works with other leading independent law firms across the rest of Africa; and is a representative of Lex Mundi, a global association of more than 160 independent law firms across the globe.

Clients include domestic and foreign corporates, multinationals, funds and financial institutions, across a range of industry sectors, as well as state-owned enterprises and governments.

Bowmans’ expertise is frequently recognized by independent research organizations. The firm won three IFLR Africa Awards (2021) including National Firm of the Year in both South Africa and Zambia. At the Africa Legal Awards (2021), Bowmans won five practice awards, more than any other single firm. In the Dealmakers East Africa Awards (2020), the firm ranked first for a number of M&A transactions. Bowmans also advised on the matter named East Africa Deal of the Year. Mergermarket (2020) identified Bowmans as the number one legal adviser in Africa by a number of completed deals.