Call for Applications: 2026 ILFA Flagship Secondment Programme (Placements in London & Dubai)
Application Deadline: 29 January 2026
Call for Applications: 2026 ILFA Flagship Secondment Programme (Placements in London & Dubai)
About
International lawyers for Africa (ILFA ) was created in 2006 by partners from leading London law firms with an interest in Africa, who wanted to use their positions and contacts to assist in “top-down” African development. ILFA is an Africa-focused capacity building organisation whose mission is to build legal excellence in Africa by providing access to advanced legal training, networking opportunities and education for African lawyers and senior professionals engaged in the negotiation of complex transactions in Africa. ILFA’s goal is to enhance the quality and delivery of legal services to clients across Africa and to strengthen the rule of law in Africa.
To do this, ILFA established the Flagship Programme, which provided an opportunity to support the growth and development of African lawyers through the practice of secondment schemes. The idea was simple; top international law firms based in Europe would sponsor promising young African lawyers for three months in their offices with a curriculum of technical legal training relevant to the African market.
In the last decade, ILFA has successfully seconded and trained 200+ African lawyers from 20 jurisdictions through its flagship programme hosted in London, France, Dubai and Hong Kong, and in 2016, the programme was further extended through the introduction of an intra-Africa secondment programme which was launched in Lagos, Nigeria. Over a decade later, ILFA has evolved into a successful organisation that offers so much more. ILFA now offers 3 core programmes with plans for many more.
ILFA believes that there is a need for strong legal support to the African community and desire to support African lawyers to obtain the required commercial and professional expertise that will: promote and support an effective legal framework within each country of Africa, which builds political and economic stability at national and international levels within the continent; ensures the retention of legal work for large corporate transactions and litigation, and therefore retains legal fees within their country, assisting with their country’s continued top down economic development; assist in protecting against the exploitation of natural resources and extractives of African countries;
Call for Applications: ILFA Flagship Secondment Programme
Applicants are invited to apply for a 1 – 3 month work experience which includes advanced training and secondment to leading law firms or corporate legal departments in London, Dubai or Paris. This ILFA Flagship Secondment Programme will run from September until December 2026. ILFA Flagship programme facilitates interchange opportunities for African lawyers to take part in a three-month secondment programme in law offices of international law firms and corporations based in London, Paris, and Dubai. Additionally, the programme provides an academic enrichment series that incorporates training modules on various topics relevant to the African legal sector. Finally, the ILFA lawyers undergo intense seminars at the prestigious Oxford and Cambridge Universities
Applications are to be submitted online through email via ilfaadmin@ilfa.africa
Applicants must have:
- Degree in law or admitted to practise as a lawyer in any African jurisdiction
- Excellent academics (minimum of a 2.1 or equivalent) from a university with a reputable law faculty
- Minimum of 5 years qualified working in private practice or government service; permanent resident of an African country
- Professional legal experience at the national level, with emphasis in public international law, corporate and commercial or banking and finance law.
- Experience as Government/state lawyers in the context of international law preferable
- Committed to developing legal skills in litigation, intellectual property, project finance, oil & gas, construction, mining, and sovereign debt
- Must be fluent in English. French, Arabic desired for certain placements
- Be willing to contribute a small percentage to the programme
- Meet the covid 19 Protocol for the UK at the time of the secondment in terms of Vaccines, PCR test and all other requirements as set by the UK Government.
- Be under the age of 35 to qualify for the Fragomen Temporary work visa in the UK
- Have obtained a degree of any kind in the last 5 years
VISIT THE PAGE HERE AND APPLY
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