Bowmans appoints Francis Wang'ombe Kariuki, former Director General of the Competition Authority of Kenya, as a senior consultant

Leading African law firm, Bowmans, is pleased to announce that Francis Wang'ombe Kariuki, MBS, has joined its top tier Competition Practice as a senior consultant in Nairobi. Mr Kariuki is an economist who specialises in industrial organisation with 30 years’ experience in the public service in Kenya.  He is the immediate former and was the first director-general of the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK), which was established in 2013.  Prior to that, Mr Kariuki had spent more than 20 years in the National Treasury, rising to lead the development of a modern competition law and enforcement regime in Kenya that culminated with the enactment of the Act and the establishment of the CAK. He has been recognised and awarded by the President of Kenya for exemplary public service, specifically in developing and enforcing competition law and policy. He possesses key interests and expertise in competition, trade, economic policies and their link to inclusiveness, poverty reduction and regional integration/trade. He played a critical regional role in the development of the COMESA Competition Commission’s regulatory capacity through conducting training and guiding on the development of the requisite regulations. On a continental level, Mr Kariuki was a founder member and the first chairman of the African Competition Forum, which has guided various cross-border research initiatives on competition policy, facilitated capacity building programmes and developed and effected various cooperation frameworks. Globally, he is considered a thought leader in emerging competition regulation issues and has acted as a policy advisor to the World Bank Group in the development of the World Development Report 2021 - Data for Better Lives. As a senior consultant at Bowmans, Mr Kariuki will work closely with the existing team of top lawyers to provide legal solutions and strategies to clients. Paras Shah, Bowman's managing partner in Kenya, says, ‘We are thrilled to welcome Francis to our firm. His very impressive background and extensive experience in Competition law in Africa will be a valuable asset to our team and to our clients, especially as competition authorities in Africa expand their reach into several areas, and we look forward to working with him.’ Mr Kariuki is excited to be joining Bowmans and is eager to help clients in the increasingly sophisticated area of competition law in Africa. He says, ‘I am honoured to be joining such a reputable firm with one of Africa’s largest and most successful competition teams. I look forward to working with the talented team at Bowmans and continuing to provide clients with the highest level of service.’

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Michael Strain

Michael Strain is one of East Africa’s most active corporate/M&A lawyers; based in Tanzania but also covering the wider region. Within Tanzania he has a comprehensive corporate/commercial practice covering all aspects of non-contentious transactional and regulatory advice (including market entry). Across East Africa, (particularly in Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda) Michael advises large corporates, financial…

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Accolades

Chambers Africa Awards, 2023

Our South African Practice was named South Africa Law Firm of the Year and co-founder of our Kenyan Practice, Philip Coulson, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.

IFLR Africa Awards, 2022

We received a total of six awards including overall M&A Team of The Year; Jurisdictional Firm of the Year: South Africa; Loans Firm of the Year: South Africa; M&A Firm of the Year: South Africa; and Project Finance Firm of the Year: South Africa. We also advised on the deal named M&A Deal of the Year.

African Legal Awards, 2022

We won four practice awards including Banking and Finance Team of the Year; Capital Markets Team of the Year; Tax Team of the Year and Transportation and Infrastructure Team of the Year.

Dealmakers Africa Awards, 2022

We ranked at the top of the M&A deal tables in East Africa by deal flow and second by deal value. We also advised on the deals named East Africa Deal of the Year and East Africa Private Equity Deal of the Year.