ILFA Flagship Secondment Programme
ABOUT
IFSP
This is an annual international secondment programme where lawyers practising in various African jurisdictions are selected and sponsored on a 3-month secondment (September to December) at highly reputed international law firms and corporations based in London, Paris, Hong Kong and Dubai. ILFA set up national committees in many African countries (comprising senior lawyers, judges and members of law societies), and has been supported by these national committees in the advertisement of the secondment programme and the initial review of applications. The ILFA board selects the successful secondees from a shortlist of applications drawn up by each national committee.
Additionally, the programme provides an academic enrichment series that incorporates training modules on various topics relevant to the African legal sector. A wide variety of practice areas and sectors are covered as part of the training modules which take place in London in the first 2 weeks of the programme before the lawyers then go to the various host cities. Finally, the ILFA lawyers undergo seminars at the prestigious Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The overall objective is to ‘educate, equip and empower’ African lawyers.
Successful secondees receive a fully-funded 3-month placement (between September and December) – the majority of secondees spend their time in London, but in more recent years some also complete their placements in Paris, Dubai and Hong Kong. In the first few weeks of the programme, secondees receive intensive training in many areas including corporate, finance, litigation, and public international law. The remainder of the programme is spent gaining work experience in law firms, chambers, and corporations. Secondees also have the benefit of various networking evenings so they can get to know each other, as well as pre-eminent lawyers, barristers, academics and businessmen and women.
This is all with the aim of equipping the secondees with as much relevant experience as possible such that the secondees can take this experience back to their home jurisdictions. As highlighted above, it is hoped that these highly trained African lawyers will have the skills and experience to deal with complex transaction work within their own countries, therefore retaining the legal fees within their own countries, rather than the work needing to be sent abroad to other lawyers. In 2013 Merger Market recorded around 250 deals with a value of $3B or more where the legal work was led by law firms outside of Africa. This means that legal fees for these deals, which could have been earned within an African jurisdiction and so adding to such jurisdiction’s economy, instead were lost to an overseas firm. Africa is losing out on “indirect compensation” from such deals given that no benefit of the hefty legal fees is felt by the African jurisdiction.
ABOUT
IFSP
Advanced Training
Legal skills and professional development training are an essential part of the secondment programme. Ahead of candidates being placed with host firms, they are invited to attend a 2-week induction/ advanced skills training which takes place in London. The training is delivered by ILFA in partnership with participating firms and corporations and several other ILFA advisors. Sessions are a mix of soft skills and technical training which cover a wide range of topics and practice areas relevant to the African legal sector.
Topics vary from year to year but usually include hot topics like:
• Introduction to project finance
• Improving the investment climate in Africa
• The role of Public-Private Partnerships in African infrastructure development
• Best practice guidance on Oil & Gas projects
• Navigating dispute resolution and regulatory issues in Africa
• Sources of Public International Law
• International Commercial Arbitration
Oxbridge Seminars
ILFA lawyers attend a two-day academic seminar organised by Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The seminars are coordinated and led by selected members of the ILFA Advisory Board who have affiliations with the universities in conjunction with the law faculties of the two universities.
Pupillage Experience
COMBAR (The Commercial Bar Association) is a long-time supporter of ILFA and offers a series of lectures and “mini-pupillages” to ILFA secondees. COMBAR usually offers pupillage experiences for up to 10 ILFA secondees. This means that secondees will spend 2-3 days (at the end of November) undertaking work experience at various chambers. This opportunity is open to all the ILFA secondees.
Professional Development and Networking
Core of the ILFA programme is the development of intra Africa networks. The programme provides secondees with valuable opportunities to meet, exchange information, and share experiences with lawyers from various African countries. Through conferences, shared accommodation, networking receptions, meetings, and seminars; secondees expand their perspectives on their work, the legal industry and on global issues facing the African continent. The ability to engage with one another as well as with colleagues at work placements and during legal professional events are all key components of these condees enrichment experience thereby ensuring that ILFA delivers both technical and professional development training to its lawyers.
ILFA 2025 Flagship Programme Cohort
Martha Sheila Mutamba
Hosted by Trinity International LLP
Martha is a Ugandan-qualified lawyer currently working as an Associate in the Corporate and Commercial team at ENS Uganda. With over five years of experience, Martha specialises in corporate equity financings through mergers and acquisitions and private equity. Martha has advised clients on complex corporate transactions across a wide range of sectors, handling deals throughout the full investment lifecycle - from market entry to exit. In addition, Martha has experience in corporate restructurings, payment systems and general corporate and commercial advisory. Martha has a strong interest in competition law and is actively contributing to the development of regulations to the recently enacted Competition Act (Cap. 66), a long-awaited law in Uganda that was over two decades in the making.
Martha holds an LLM with a specialism in Corporate and Commercial Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an LLB (Hons) from the University of Dar es Salaam. Martha is also a
member of the Uganda Law Society and East Africa Law Society.
Nana-Akua Tufuoh
Hosted by White & Case LLP
Nana-Akua Tufuoh is a transactional attorney with substantial multi-jurisdictional experience, having qualified to practice in Washington, DC, New York, and Ghana. Her practice areas of focus include cross-border M&A transactions and infrastructure projects. She is currently an associate and pro bono lead at N. Dowuona & Company - ALN Ghana, a leading law firm in Accra, where she routinely advises multinationals and reputable domestic corporates on their investments in Ghana in a variety of sectors, from energy to agribusiness.
Nana-Akua is particularly passionate about healthcare and earned specialty certificates in health law and business law alongside her Juris Doctor degree. Prior to law school, she earned Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Health Science. She is committed to leveraging her legal and commercial expertise to address pressing global health challenges in sub-Saharan Africa such as HIV/AIDS criminalisation, limited newborn screening for sickle cell disease, and community health risks posed by illegal mining.
Prince Asafo-Adjei
Hosted by Mayer Brown LLP
Prince is an Associate in the Dispute Resolution practice group at Sam Okudzeto & Associates, one of Ghana’s leading law firms. Since his admission to the Ghana Bar in 2019, he has developed significant experience in commercial dispute resolution and corporate advisory services, and has acted for clients across various industries, including private health insurance, construction, manufacturing, financial services, and entertainment.
Some of Prince’s notable work includes advising on governance and compliance risks in the acquisition of a major private health insurance company in Ghana; advising a multinational consortium on its contractual obligations under the Volta River Dredging Project; representing a government agency administering the Millennium Challenge Fund as co-counsel in a commercial dispute to enforce a bid guarantee against a commercial bank in Ghana; and acting as co-counsel in a commercial dispute against a major state-owned enterprise in the cocoa industry.
A prolific legal researcher, Prince previously clerked for a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana and provided research support to the former Deputy Attorney General of Ghana. He currently assists the Honourable Chief Justice of Ghana with research on select constitutional matters.
Recently, Prince was the recipient of an ICCA Inclusion Fund and has participated in international arbitration trainings and workshops across Africa. He is a member of Young ICCA, the Association of Young Arbitrators, the Young International Arbitration Group of the LCIA, and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (ACIArb).
Prince holds an LL.B. from the University of Ghana and a Qualifying Certificate in Law from the Ghana School of Law and is a member of the Ghana Bar Association and the International Bar Association.
Samira Ladan Tsamiya
Hosted by Latham & Watkins LLP
Samira Ladan Tsamiya is a Nigerian-qualified lawyer with substantial experience advising on high-value projects and transactions in oil and gas and infrastructure, including public-private partnerships (PPPs) in these sectors. Her expertise spans complex contract negotiation and drafting, regulatory compliance, and strategic legal advisory. She has also undertaken specialised training in international law, arbitration, and compliance monitoring, which enhances her cross-border advisory capabilities. Samira is a Co-founder and Partner at Honoris Legal, a boutique law firm focused on energy and infrastructure, where she has played a lead role in landmark industry transactions. Prior to this, she worked at J-K Gadzama LLP, a leading Nigerian law firm, where she handled commercial dispute resolution, including litigation and arbitration.
She holds a PhD in Law from the University of Abuja, Nigeria, and her doctoral thesis examined Nigeria’s legal and institutional framework for PPPs in infrastructure development. She also holds an LLM from Durham University, UK, an LLB from Baze University, Nigeria, and has recently completed an MSc in Law and Finance at the University of Oxford. She earned top distinctions across her academic programmes and received several awards for academic excellence. Beyond legal practice, Samira is passionate about education and community development. She is the founder of a non-profit organisation that provides scholarships to students from underprivileged backgrounds in her hometown of Sokoto, Nigeria.
Tapiwa John Chivanga
Hosted by Clifford Chance LLP
Tapiwa John has extensive experience in Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate and Commercial Law, and Dispute Resolution. Over the years, he has played a key role, advising on high value transactions across Zimbabwe’s mining and industrial sectors. Tapiwa has advised multinational corporations on entering and operating in Zimbabwe, successfully securing exchange control approvals, investment licenses and sector - specific regulatory clearances. He has successfully participated in cross-border acquisitions; corporate restructurings; and complex shareholder disputes. He has also represented clients in high-stakes litigation in the Superior Courts of Zimbabwe, as well as, in arbitration proceedings.
A recognised thought leader, Tapiwa has consistently contributed to the Chambers Global Practice Guides, Lex Africa Guides, Afriwise Categories, and the DealMakers Africa Finance Magazine, publishing extensively on Zimbabwe’s M&A landscape, foreign investment laws and shareholder rights. His work combines technical legal expertise with strategic insight, positioning him as a key advisor in Zimbabwe’s evolving corporate and investment environment.
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