Senior Associate – Projects, Energy and Infrastructure

Bowmans (Law Firm) help our clients overcome legal complexity and unlock opportunity in Africa.

Senior Associate – Projects, Energy and Infrastructure

Experience and Qualifications

• Qualifications: an LLB and admission as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. Lawyers admitted in another common law jurisdiction with directly relevant experience are encouraged to apply.

• Experience: around 6 to 8 years’ post-qualification experience at a leading law firm, a substantial part of it on energy and infrastructure project development and project finance transactions. Relevant experience in-house or at a development finance institution will also be considered.

• A track record on deals: demonstrable experience of having managed transactions of this kind day to day, acting for sponsors or lenders, which you can describe deal by deal, including what you personally did on each.

• Technical strength and judgement: first-rate drafting and negotiation skills, a sound grasp of project finance and project documentation, and the judgement to identify the points that matter and advise a client on them with confidence.

• Supervisory experience: experience supervising and reviewing the work of junior lawyers, and a real interest in developing them.

• Organisation and reliability: the ability to manage several live matters at once, to keep partners and clients informed without being prompted, and to be the person colleagues and clients trust to get things right.

• Advantageous: experience on cross-border and multi-jurisdictional matters, and familiarity with the requirements of development finance institutions and export credit agencies.

What we are working on:

Matters currently on the team’s desk include:

• Project and acquisition financings of energy and infrastructure assets, acting for sponsors and for lenders, including commercial banks and development finance institutions.

• One of the largest refinery projects proposed in the region, including its investment and incentives framework with government.

• Secondary market M&A: acquisitions and disposals of interests in operating and development-stage power and infrastructure assets, including the related due diligence and financing.

• Independent power producer projects within and outside Kenya, including in Zambia and Mozambique, from development through to financial close.

• Infrastructure PPPs in Tanzania and Zanzibar, acting on the structuring, procurement and project documentation.

• Privately financed electricity transmission PPPs in Kenya, among the first of their kind in the market.

• Port and terminal projects, toll road financings and hydropower refinancings across the region.

Key Accountabilities: