Folasade Olusanya

She is an exceptional lawyer with an impeccable reputation for advising managers and investee companies in complex Mergers and Acquisitions and Cross-Border Acquisitions, Banking & Finance, Corporate Commercial as well as Private Equity and Venture Capital. Fola has a strong track record of advising government, DFIs and developers and has also garnered considerable experience in Finance within Nigeria and the West African sub-region. She is a significant name in Nigeria and Africa’s banking and finance space and clients have noted as cited by Chambers 2022 that “She’s a very hands-on lawyer – she gets involved in transactions and is very experienced.” 

With over 28 years of practice, Fola has been part of several national and sub-national infrastructure finance projects and has led her Firm, Jackson, Etti & Edu to advise on project finance and public private partnership transactions.  Her practice covers a wide range of product areas, including Rights Issue, Private Placements, Public Offers, Eurobonds, Corporate and State bonds.  

This rare combination of legal knowledge, experience and fluency in high finance is reflected not only in such deal-making but in Fola’s active membership  of several prestigious professional associations, including the Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN); Mergers & Acquisitions Committees of the Capital Markets Solicitors Association in Nigeria; the Business Law Section of the Nigerian Bar Association; Loan Marketers Association, the International Bar Association; and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria. 

Unsurprisingly, Fola has been involved in a number of big-ticket transactions, including several privatisations of Nigerian government assets, advising on both the sell side and buy side. Fola also advised GuarantCo on the provision of a revolving recallable funding facility to Infracredit Limited and was an advisor on the Lagos State Government N500 billion Bond Issuance Programme. Fola has also advised extensively on several real estate transactions and has been involved in a number of Public Private Partnership deals. 

Clients seek Fola’s representation on a range of substantial M&A mandates as well as issues relating to corporate governance, where she regularly represents clients from infrastructure and energy to consumer goods and pensions. In 2017, She won the prestigious International Law Office (ILO) Client Choice Award for Mergers & Acquisition transactions. A recent client appraisal states, “Folasade goes beyond the call of duty when dealing with her clients; she is more than a legal adviser, she works alongside her clients as a real partner for their business.” 

She was highly commended for her leading role in the closing of the EMTS (Etisalat) debt restructure with a syndicate of Nigerian banks and Teleology Limited, which was shortlisted for the IFLR 2020 Inaugural Sub-Saharan African Award. She is a registered Sponsored Individual with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and was a former member of the Bonds Sub-committee of Capital Markets committee of SEC. She has also been recognized severally for her excellent work advising the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council in Nigeria, and very recently, her active involvement in the passing of the Business Facilitation (Omnibus) Act 2023.  

She has consistently been listed as a leading lawyer in Chambers, IFLR, WhoisWho Legal and other reputable ranking organizations. In 2022, Fola was recognised by IFLR as an IFLR 1000 Women Leader, an elite ranking category reserved for the most prominent women lawyers across the world.   

Fola is a visionary leader with exceptional interpersonal and communication skills. She has a passion for empowering and inspiring her team to achieve their full potential, and she is known for her ability to build and maintain strong relationships with clients, partners, and stakeholders. She is also a strong advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and she actively works to create a more inclusive workplace.