Vance Center Promotes Pro Bono in Africa in Events with Bar Association Leaders in Kenya and Nigeria

Ramadhan Abubakar, President of the East Africa Law Society, offers opening remarks at a meeting of bar association leaders in Nairobi, Kenya, October 9, 2025. Photo credit: Bowmans Kenya

While in Kenya to attend the African Bar Association Presidents’ Summit in October, Adaobi Egboka, the Vance Center’s Director, Africa Initiatives, hosted a constructive meeting with leaders of bar organizations from half a dozen countries.

The conversation, held on on October 9, 2025, highlighted the Vance Center’s existing pro bono efforts in Africa and offered a space to discuss collaborative ideas to advance pro bono in the bar leaders’ respective jurisdictions. Participants also explored the possibility of developing an instrument to measure pro bono impact across the continent.

Richard Harney, senior partner at Bowmans Kenya, opened the conversation by welcoming attendees to the meeting, which was hosted at the Bowmans office in Nairobi.

He was followed by opening remarks from Eric Kivuva, Chair of the Law Society of Kenya‘s Nairobi branch; Ramadhan Abubakar, President of the East Africa Law Society; Donald Deya, Chief Executive Officer of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU); and Luis Franceschi, Assistant Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Next, Egboka presented on the Vance Center’s mission and work, including long-running efforts to support and strengthen pro bono around the world. She emphasized the Vance Center’s commitment to partnering with legal practitioners in Africa to institutionalize pro bono throughout the continent’s legal profession.

In the open discussion session that followed, bar leaders from Uganda, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, and South Sudan outlined their distinct approaches to pro bono legal services.

Davis Mthakati, President of the Malawi Law Society, highlighted the mandatory nature of pro bono in Malawi, which requires every legal practitioner to perform at least 24 hours of pro bono work each practice year. He also introduced Malawi’s new nationwide pro bono legal services scheme, which the law society launched in 2023 to support lawyers in taking on cases. Most presidents applauded the Vance Center’s efforts and affirmed their commitment to supporting the strengthening and institutionalization of pro bono in Africa.

In concluding remarks, Law Society of Kenya President Faith Odhiambo thanked attendees, reiterated the importance of pro bono work for lawyers, and affirmed the Law Society of Kenya’s commitment to supporting pro bono in Kenya and across Africa.

The Vance Center’s Adaobi Egboka presents on the Vance Center’s work at a meeting of bar association leaders in Nairobi, Kenya, October 9, 2025. Photo credit: Bowmans Kenya

Eric Kivuva, Chair of the Law Society of Kenya’s Nairobi branch, and Moise Nkundabarashi, President of the Rwandan Bar Association. Photo credit: Bowmans Kenya

Donald Deya, Chief Executive Officer of the Pan African Lawyers Union, speaks with other participants at the bar association event in Nairobi, October 9, 2025. Photo credit: Bowmans Kenya

NBA-SPIDEL Partnership

The next week, the Nigerian Bar Association’s Section on Public Interest and Development (NBA-SPIDEL) invited Egboka to discuss the Vance Center’s pro bono promotion efforts and partnerships to strengthen pro bono in Nigeria at a pre-conference launch event ahead of SPIDEL’s annual conference in December 2025.

Wale Ogunade, Alternate Chair of NBA-SPIDEL’s Media/Publicity & Publications Subcommittee, welcomed participants to the opening session of the high-level meeting, held on October 15 in Lagos, Nigeria.

NBA-SPIDEL Chairman Prof. Paul Ananaba (SAN), detailed the reasoning behind the NBA’s interest in partnering with the Vance Center to strengthen pro bono efforts within the Bar Association, and its commitment to collaborate with the Vance Center on institutionalizing pro bono in Africa. He recounted previous pro bono projects that the Bar Association has taken on, including a recent strategic case against the Nigerian government related to a ban on tinted car windows.

Following this introduction, Egboka discussed the Vance Center’s work and its past and current pro bono initiatives, including new ideas to expand pro bono access across Africa. She detailed ways for the NBA-SPIDEL to collaborate with the Vance Center to strengthen pro bono efforts within the Nigerian Bar Association. She also highlighted opportunities to connect lawyers across the continent and Latin America, and raised the possibility of the NBA-SPIDEL joining the Vance Center’s efforts to establish an institutional framework for providing pro bono services in sub-Saharan Africa.

In concluding remarks, Prof. Uju Agomoh, Chair of the NBA-SPIDEL 2025 Conference Planning Committee, pledged the organization’s commitment to partner with the Vance Center in these endeavors, including supporting development of a proposed pro bono declaration for Africa, similar to the Pro Bono Declaration of the Americas.

Adaobi Egboka, center, with presenters and participants at the NBA-SPIDEL pre-conference launch event in Lagos, Nigeria, October 25, 2025. Photo credit: Vance Center