Open for business: Africa the new frontier for finance-specialist law firms
This week, Baker & McKenzie, a US law firm with a presence in 71 countries around the world, is celebrating the opening of its Johannesburg office, which specialises in mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance, capital markets and securities, private equity and securitization. It is a sign that business is booming – seven of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies are in Africa and average growth outpaces that of the US and Europe, so advice is needed on a myriad deals from privatisations to sovereign debt matters, from rights issues to project finance to cross-national M&A.
In the last few years of rapid growth in Africa more and more law firms have taken on Africa specialists and done business in the continent, but only three of the top US firms have a physical presence on the ground – White & Case, DLA Piper and now Baker & McKenzie. “We prefer to be one of the first, but no doubt more will follow,” says Koen Vanhaerents, EMEA chair. “The decision has been driven by our clients, who want to take advantage of the many opportunities on the continent. It makes sense for us to be here: no more fly-in, fly-out deals, but a long-term commitment to Africa.”
The Johannesburg office has 16 lawyers, ten of whom are finance specialists. Many more will be taken on in the near future, says Wildu du Plessis, head of the banking and finance practice: “We plan to expand quite rapidly, hiring 30 lawyers in the next two or three months and then increasing to 40 in the next year. Most of them will be South African or African lawyers with a specific expertise, like financial services, but there will also be secondments from abroad and transfers from other offices. We already have Africa specialists working in Paris, London, China, Australia and other offices.”
What Baker & McKenzie are looking for is “people with an international outlook and open to new experiences, who ideally had an education or work experience in a different country from their country of origin,” says Vanhaerents. “Technical knowledge of course is a given.” Despite the skills shortage in South Africa, he does not anticipate any problems in finding the right people: “We offer access to international best practice so we are in a fortunate position and many talented people want to join us.”
Baker & McKenzie now have three offices: the one in Cairo, that has been open since 1985, covers Muslim Africa, the new Casablanca office is a hub for Francophone West Africa while the Johannesburg base will cover South and East Africa, confirming the city’s role as a gateway to the rest of the continent.
Despite the recent labour unrest and violent miners’ strikes, the mood in the financial services sector is upbeat, says du Plessis: “The mining unrest has not affected financial or professional services. We are incredibly busy. There is a lot of activity in the market and still a skills shortage. Our banking and financial services clients are actively hiring and constantly looking for the right expertise and level of people.”
