International law firm Pinsent Masons has appointed George Sibanda as head of the firm’s Johannesburg office.

Sibanda, who joined the firm when it launched its inaugural Africa presence in 2017, is a highly skilled corporate specialist. He has worked on numerous capital raisings, including on the largest ever IPO on the JSE Ltd.

Over the last year Sibanda has also played a lead role in ‘Project Naledi’ a programme initiated by the firm aimed at aiding the educational and sporting development of children in Soweto. 

He will be supported by Deputy Office Head, Apicksha Patel.

Since the opening of its Johannesburg office in February 2017, Pinsent Masons’ Africa practice has continued to provide a full spectrum of legal advice to infrastructure and energy clients across the African continent.  Over the past 12 months, the firm has been appointed as legal counsel to the project company on the 500km long Lamu-Garissa-Isiolo road in Kenya, advised West Africa’s largest industrial conglomerate on one of the most significant energy infrastructure projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and been appointed to the regional panel for one of the largest development finance institutions operating in Africa.

The Johannesburg office is fully integrated into the wider group of some 24 offices, which has enabled the successful awarding of significant African mandates where a multi-discipline, multi-language and multi-jurisdictional team was required.

John Cleland, Managing Partner of Pinsent Masons says: “Africa is a crucial market for the infrastructure, energy and technology sectors. Our Johannesburg office is a thriving base for our connectivity to the region and has enabled us to scale our service to clients operating within and into all of Africa. George is well connected in the Zimbabwean market and I’m pleased that he will continue to build on the great achievements of the office since its launch.”