AB & David Africa has been named Law Firm of the Year by the Institute for African Women in Law (IAWL), following the organisation’s 10th-anniversary gala held in Johannesburg.

The award recognises the firm’s sustained commitment to gender equality in the legal profession, with IAWL citing its investment in women’s leadership and the deliberate integration of gender-inclusive policies and practices across its offices and wider African network.

“Receiving this recognition from IAWL is significant for our entire firm. It affirms that building a law firm where women can lead, shape strategy, and drive major transactions is not an aspiration on paper. It is a daily operational priority for us,” said Isabel Boaten, Managing Partner of AB & David Africa’s Ghana office.

IAWL highlighted AB & David Africa as a leading multi-jurisdictional firm on the continent that actively supports and promotes gender equality within the legal sector. The recognition comes against the backdrop of continued gender imbalance in Africa’s legal profession. According to IAWL’s research on women in law and leadership across several African countries, women remain significantly underrepresented in senior positions at the bar, on the bench, and within legal academia.

AB & David Africa said it views the award not only as recognition, but also as a responsibility to further strengthen its internal structures and talent pipeline to ensure more women progress into partnership, management and board-level roles.

The firm also intends to leverage the recognition to deepen collaboration across the profession. “We intend to use this recognition to deepen our collaboration with IAWL and peer firms,” Boaten added. “If the profession is serious about excellence in Africa’s legal services market, it must also be serious about gender equity. The two are connected.”

Beyond its internal policies, AB & David Africa is an active supporter of the IAWL Women’s Excellence in Law & Leadership Academy (WELLA), an initiative aimed at equipping emerging female legal professionals across Africa with leadership skills, mentorship and professional networks. Through its support of the Academy, the firm says it is investing in a broader ecosystem of women prepared to lead in Africa’s evolving business-law landscape.

AB & David Africa operates as a global business law firm with a strong pan-African footprint, maintaining independent offices across several African jurisdictions and a wider network spanning approximately 30 countries. The firm advises governments, development finance institutions, multinational corporations and regional businesses on complex matters including infrastructure, energy, mining, telecommunications, public-private partnerships, corporate and M&A, and cross-border transactions.

IAWL, a pan-African non-profit organisation, works to advance gender equality in law through research, advocacy, training and leadership development, and partners with institutions across Africa and the diaspora to promote gender-inclusive legal systems.