Businesses and investors are increasingly looking to enter Africa and expand operations across the continent. Ethiopia has the second largest population on the African continent and holds great potential for foreign investment particularly in the industrial, agriculture, energy, mining, financial services and ICT sectors and also through the recent privatisation programme.

Recognising this and responding to client needs, Webber Wentzel and leading Ethiopian law firm, Tadesse Kiros Law Office recently signed a bilateral agreement. The agreement will deepen and formalise the relationship between these leading firms and create a stronger platform to serve you in Africa. The agreement also puts in place concrete measures to enable consistent and collaborative best practice sharing and thought leadership as well as create opportunities for joint training and secondments.

Christo Els, Webber Wentzel Senior Partner, "We are very excited about entering into this bilateral agreement with Tadesse Kiros Law Office. The agreement builds on our strategy to continue to deepen relationships with the leading African ​law firms in countries where our clients operate. We are committed to supporting our clients, sustainable growth and the widening of opportunities across the continent."

Robert Appelbaum, Webber Wentzel Ethiopia country partner: "Our relationship has grown out of live mandates and is a perfect mix given the depth of experience of both firms. A number of our clients are active in Ethiopia and, subsequent to the recent positive and pro-business changes including the privatisation programme, we are seeing many more of our international and South African clients interested in investing in Ethiopia. We are also increasingly seeing matter complexity growing with advice requiring expertise from multiple African countries. This bilateral agreement between two leading advisers is another means of ensuring exceptional service to our clients. As part of the marking of this milestone, we will be jointly engaging with our clients in the coming months."

Tadesse Kiros, Senior Partner, Tadesse Kiros Law Office: "​We are delighted to be taking this important step in our relationship with Webber Wentzel. Working alongside Webber Wentzel as the leading full- service firm in Africa will form a major strategic complement to our existing relationships with international law firms. Together we look forward to supporting our clients at this exciting and transformational time in Ethiopia."