Legal Services and Activities in Southern Africa 2024

There are about 20,000 lawyers in Southern Africa (excluding South Africa, which is covered in a separate report). Angola and Zambia together account for about half of lawyers in the region. Foreign law firms have expanded into the region due to increasing demand from multinational clients. The region’s share of the number of lawyers employed by the continent’s 100 largest law firms declined in 2022. Challenges include questions over the independence of the judiciary, corruption, attacks on lawyers and court backlogs. There is limited use of foreign lawyers as most countries demand that lawyers need to be citizens or permanent residents.

Opportunities

Expansion into fast-growing countries such as Zambia and Mozambique. Multinationals are entering the region and looking for established South African or foreign law firms. Offering alternative dispute resolution services. Providing legal advice in growth areas such as ESG, oil and gas and renewable energy. Running legal training programmes.

Challenges

Court backlogs, and lack of court infrastructure and vehicles. Crime and corruption, including money laundering and cybercrime are major challenges. Economic growth in some countries remains poor. Law associations are investigating the entry of foreign law firms. Legal education is often poor. Limited use of foreign lawyers. Political instability with elections in four countries expected in H2 2024. The cost of access to justice is high. The independence of the judiciary continues to be in question. The lack of rule of law, including attacks on lawyers, remains a serious challenge. There is concern over the number of fake attorneys.

Outlook

Interest by South African law firms is growing, given the low economic growth forecast for South Africa. South Africa and Angola are expected to be the biggest legal markets in the region by 2033. Factors that are expected to drive M&A are recent oil and gas developments in Namibia and Mozambique, renewable energy projects and privatisation programmes in Angola. Foreign law firms can expect challenges, given probes by law associations in Zambia and Namibia on whether they are illegally taking profits rather than fees from their local offices.

Report Coverage

This report on legal services and activities in Southern Africa (excluding South Africa, which is covered in a separate report), includes information on the size of the industry by number of lawyers, law firms and the judiciary, and state of the industry, including growth in the number of lawyers, legal services costs, regional integration and demand. The report examines challenges such as court backlogs, the independence of the judiciary, crime and corruption and attacks on lawyers.

There are profiles of 78 law firms including 5 St James Court and Appleby Global Services in Mauritius, Advogados Carvalho & Associados and Fatima Freitas & Associados in Angola, Armstrongs, Baoleki and Laurence Khupe Attorneys in Botswana, Atherstone & Cook, Coghlan, Welsh and Guest, and Dube, Manikai and Hwacha in Zimbabwe, Kawelo Lawyers Malawi, Mulenga Mundashi Legal Practitioners in Zambia, Pimenta e Associados in Mozambique, and partner firms of major law firms such as Bowmans, DLA Piper, Dentons, ENS Africa, Eversheds and Bowmans. Trends Law bodies are promoting the use of alternative dispute resolution. M&A is set to increase, driven by recent oil and gas finds, renewable energy projects, the AfCFTA, privatisation, economic growth and new laws.

The number of lawyers has increased significantly in a number of countries. The number training institutions providing LLB degrees has increased in recent years. There is an increase in multinational and South African law firms entering the region in recent years. To improve access to justice, several countries have launched e-court systems and made pro-bono programmes mandatory.