Six (6) Women Challenging the Legal Ecosystem in Africa — #Choosetochallenge
On the 8th of March yearly, we take our time to celebrate women. A day set aside to promote a gender-balanced world is being promoted.
Women around every work of life want and deserve an equal future and the ability choose. This year’s theme centres on choosing to challenge stereotypes, choosing to forge positive visibility of women, choosing to influence other beliefs and actions, and most importantly choosing to celebrate women’s achievements.
Here at NextCounsel, we will be shinning the light so brightly on 5 women who have chosen to challenge the legal eco-system in Africa.
Funke Adekoya — Founding Partner Aelex Practitioners
Madam Funke is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, this alone should be enough, but she doesn’t stop there. She is the head of the dispute resolution practice group at AELEX, with 45 years’ experience in commercial dispute resolution. She obtained a Second Upper Law degree from the then University of Ife, Ile-Ife in 1974. She got called to the Nigerian bar in 1975. Funke went ahead and obtained an LL.M. from Harvard Law School, Boston, Massachusetts USA in 1977 and in 2004 she was enrolled as a Solicitor of England and Wales and maintains a current practising license.
She has acted within Nigeria and abroad either as counsel, co-counsel or Nigerian law expert in both international and domestic litigation and arbitration proceedings; and has appeared as an expert on Nigerian law issues in courts in Turkey, the UK and the United States.
Funke is on various panels, including the ICSID chairman’s panel of arbitrators; those of CIETAC, the Kigali International Arbitration Centre, the Lagos Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration and the panel of neutrals of both the Lagos Multi-Door Court House and the Nigerian Communications Commission.
She is known for being outspoken about corruption and having a “strong court presence”. Funke Adekoya has spent a lifetime choosing to challenge and this is the reason we celebrate her today.
Kizzita Mensah — Partner Reindorf Chambers
Kizzita Mensah is a seasoned lawyer and a founding/ Managing Partner at Reindorf Chamber located in the heart of Accra Ghana. Reindorf Chambers is a part of the DLA Piper group.
As a partner at Reindorf Chambers, she has worked extensively in providing legal advice within the context of corporate organization, project finance, policy formulation as well as organizational development.
she has led the firm through significant transactions, advice, and legal support to clients.
With so many years in the legal industry, Kizzita Mensah enrolled on the Roll of Lawyers to practice as Solicitor and called to the Ghana Bar (1997) and got admitted into the bar of England and Wales in 1996, she is an alumnus of the London School of economics and political science and the University of Kent at canterbury.
She is currently a member of the Ghana Bar association and the bar of England and wales.
She has advised several investors in relation to foreign exchange issues. Kizzita has spent a lifetime choosing to challenge and this is the reason we celebrate her today.
Moe Odele — Partner Vazi Legal
Moe Odele is an attorney living in Washington D.C. She is a fan of entrepreneurship, innovation, and Law.
Born November 3 1990, Moe is a vibrant young lawyer. A founding Partner at Vazi Legal and the founder of Scale My Hustle. Vazi Legal is an innovation-focused law and Scale My Hustle is a social enterprise focused on helping entrepreneurs build better-structured businesses.
She solidified her name in the history books with the role she played during the ENDSARS campaign in Nigeria. When she is not wearing her superhero cape and saving young individuals from Police brutality, she can be found sending newsletters Where she provides educational content. Moe, popularly referred to as moechievous wears many hats, Lawyer, entrepreneur, Writer, and a member of the feminist coalition. She is an advocate for women’s right and can be quoted saying ‘Women don’t need more training. Women need more money. Simple. Pay women more. Employ more women. Invest in more women’.
Cynthia Quarcoo — Founding Partner CQ Legal
Cynthia is the Founder and Managing Partner of CQ Legal. With over 15 years of experience representing institutional clients, she is an experienced finance lawyer with specialization and a keen interest in the energy, financial services, infrastructure, and cyber sectors
Her representative experience includes the provision of project finance structuring advice on a $1.5 million joint venture coal to power infrastructure deal, and acting as Co-counsel for the Ministry of Finance on the successful 2019 and 2020 $3 billion Government of Ghana Sovereign Bond. has over 15 years of experience representing institutional clients.
Cynthia is an economics and business graduate, Cynthia’s early career as an Analyst at PriceWaterHouse Coopers has strengthened her ability to provide clients with co Her achievements include.
She holds an LLM in Corporate Commercial. She also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Law, Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Economics and Business Law, and is a Barrister of England and Wales, Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana.
Zelda Akindele — Partner Templars
Zelda is a Partner in the firm’s Finance Practice Group. She has 15+ Years Experienced as Corporate Finance Lawyer. She has been recognized as a leading lawyer by the “IFLR 1000”
She holds a Master of Laws in Banking and Finance from the London School of Economics, and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Bristol. She is admitted to practise in Nigeria, England &Wales.
Before Templars, she worked with the Nigerian investment bank, UBA Global Markets (now United Capital), and before that as a member of the Banking and Finance team of Clifford Chance in London. She is currently a member of the FMDQ Sub-Committee on Regulation Consolidation of the Nigerian Debt Capital Market.
Zelda Akindele is the co-author of the Nigerian Chapter of the International Banking Regulation Review for 2010 & 2011 published by Law Business Research.
Isioma Idigbe
She is one of the founding members of the Music Publishers Association of Nigeria (MPAN) and is a trustee on its board of trustees representing Universal Music Nigeria.
Isioma is a senior associate at Punuka Attorneys, she is the head of the firm’s Media and Entertainment law practice. A pioneer in the birthing of this practice area in Nigeria, Iisoma believes in the business of entertainment law. After securing major local and international clients for the firm in the entertainment practise area, she has been on several panels across the country promoting this field.
Outside of her firm work, Isioma has been heavily involved in policy work affecting Nigeria’s film industry, including leading the research team on the regulatory framework in the Nigerian Film and Television industries and submitting a proposal to the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC).
Isioma holds a Bachelor of Law (Hons) degree from the University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom and a certificate in Entertainment Law from Osgoode Hall Law School at the York University Toronto, Canada.
She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2015 and is a graduate of the Nigeria Law School.
At NextCounsel, we are glad these women are choosing to challenge. We will continue to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements in the legal ecosystem collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.
Happy International Women’s Day
