As part of ILFA’s belief in an ongoing commitment to comprehensive continuous legal education for African lawyers, in 2019 we have launched a new programme called the ILFA Legal Excellence Academy. The programme takes place in countries across Africa and is made up of classroom style teaching for candidates who apply and are selected to attend. Topics vary depending on jurisdiction. To view the photos of the event, please click here.
ILFA has run the following LEA so far in 2019:
| Location | Local Partner | Actual Dates | Subject focus |
| Lagos, Nigeria | Nigerian Bar Association- Section on business law | 25-27 March 2019 | Banking & Finance |
ILFA/NBA-SBL Banking & Finance Academy
The ILFA/NBA-SBL Banking and Finance Academy was designed to assist junior finance lawyers in furthering their legal knowledge and expertise in the field of banking and finance. The course was made up of practical and interactive modules and aims to provide attendees with a comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of banking and finance law. The programme’s pilot partners who conducted the training were:
The objectives of the programme were to enable participants to:
- Understand the main types and structures of corporate borrowing, and how lenders raise money
- Understand the general structure of a loan facility agreement and its key clauses
- Understand the reasons for and methods of transfers of loans by banks
- Appreciate the concepts of taking and perfecting security
- Consider the reasons for and methods of subordination
- Understand capital markets and types of debt security, and the form and nature of a bond
- Review of insolvency law for debt finance lawyers
- Understand tax matters relevant to banking lawyers
- Understand the nature of derivatives and how the market in derivatives works
- Understand different types of financing relevant in Nigeria
Course Duration
- Day 1 – Programme launch/welcome event (Morning only)
- Day 2 & 3 – Training sessions
- Day 4 – Graduation ceremony/Course certification
Course Structure
- Overview courses
- Introduction to finance and types of financing
- Understanding syndication and club deals
- Project finance overview
- Corporate finance overview
- Understanding term sheets
- Facility agreements & other finance documents
- Covenants and representations
- Ratios and financial covenants
- Security types and structures
- Restructuring and insolvency
- Transaction management
- Spotlight on Project, energy and infrastructure finance
Target Audience
- The programme was open to all banking & finance lawyers from private practices, in house legal teams and government departments.
- Places were available for 75 lawyers.
- Lawyers must have between 2.5 and 5 years post qualification experience and currently be working on active banking and finance matters.
ILFA Legal Excellence Academy- Kenya
ILFA is in the process of organising the next session of the Legal Excellence Academy that will be held in Kenya.
For further details, please contact events@ilfa.africa.