Leading Ghanaian law firm, Oxford & Beaumont Solicitors, has completed a merger with Africa’s largest law firm ENSafrica, effective December 1, 2015.
Following the merger, Oxford & Beaumont will be known as ENSafrica Ghana, with Ghana becoming the seventh African jurisdiction of the 110-year-old firm, outside of South Africa.
ENSafrica Ghana will operate from its offices in Accra and continue to maintain its London office as a back office.
The completion of the merger and opening of ENSafrica Ghana is a consummation of a relationship that dates back a couple of years, with the two firms working together on several cases and sharing clients over those years.
Merger overtures were started by Oxford & Beaumont almost two years ago.
ENSafrica’s expansion drive
The expansion of the Mauritius-headquartered firm into Ghana is a welcome move at building closer economic links between African countries.
In August this year, President John Mahama paid a reciprocal state visit to Mauritius – following the 2014 visit to Ghana of the Vice Prime Minister of Mauritius – to further deepen bilateral, trade and political relations between the two nations.
The merger therefore comes as a boost for South-South Cooperation, more so as the two countries are variously viewed as the gateways to their respective regions.
Why Ghana
The merits of the deal, on ENSafrica’s part, are unmissable.
“If you look at where Foreign Direct Investment is flowing into the continent, and if you look at the performance of various economies across the continent, Ghana sits at the top of the pile,” Mzi Mgudlwa, Deputy Chief Executive explained. Ghana’s growing economy, relative peace and stability made the country an easier choice when ENSafrica finally decided to make the long-eyed move into West Africa.
The West African region had been “conspicuous by its absence” from ENSafrica’s footprint, according to Mr Mgudlwa.
The pan-African firm, founded in South Africa in 1905, has been on an African expansion drive in recent years.
In August 2012, it became the first African headquartered law firm with fully integrated offices across different African jurisdictions when it opened offices in Rwanda and Burundi.
ENSafrica Ghana joins its other offices in Tanzania, Namibia, Mauritius, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Africa.