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Joba Akinola

Senior Associate

Email

joba.akinola@aoshearman.com

Phone

+44 20 3088 4680

Offices

London

V-CARD
Joba specialises in advising project sponsors, governments, banks and other financial institutions on energy, natural resources and infrastructure projects. 
He regularly acts on financings, joint ventures, acquisitions and divestments and has been involved in various novel and complex projects across Africa, Europe and the Middle East. He is dual qualified in New York and Nigeria, and is fluent in Yoruba. Joba was recognised as a ‘Rising Star’ for project finance and project development by IFLR1000 in 2021 and as a 'Notable Practitioner' in 2022 and 2023.

Expertise

Industries

Experience

Representative matters

  • The senior lenders and cover providers to H2GS on the EUR4.2bn financing for the construction of the world’s first large-scale green steel plant and Europe's first giga-scale electrolyzer in Boden, Sweden. 
  • Nigeria LNG Limited on a first-of-its-kind USD3bn hybrid financing for the Train 7 project at the Bonny Island liquefied natural gas facility in Nigeria. 
  • IFC on the financing of Safaricom Ethiopia for the construction and roll-out of the first private sector telecommunications network in Ethiopia. 
  • Sembcorp/Jinko Power as sponsors on the project financing of the Manah II solar project in the Sultanate of Oman. 
  • The lenders (including IFC, Nedbank and Mauritius Commercial Bank) on the financing of SEACOM to boost its broadband cable network and cloud-based product offering in Djibouti, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
  • NSIA on establishing a joint venture platform with Vitol to invest in sustainable development and GHG emission reduction projects in Nigeria.
  • Gemcorp on the development and financing of a 60,000bpd refinery in Cabinda, Angola.
  • Konexa and Climate Fund Managers on the development of Nigeria’s first on-grid renewable energy trading platform (with integrated electricity generation, distribution and supply) project in Kaduna, Nigeria. 

Pro bono

  • Represented a number of indigent defendants in criminal proceedings before superior courts of record in Nigeria, under the Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership.
  • Advised various start-ups and MSMEs as a volunteer for the Neighborhood Entrepreneur law Project of the New York City Bar Association.

Published Work

  • Nigeria's Revised Rules on Financial Assistance: Implications for Corporate Acquisition Transactions, Financial Nigeria, 2021
  • Renewable Energy in Nigeria: Law Regulation, Trends & Opportunities (with Esan, W. et al), International Bar Association, 2021
  • Infrastructure Development under Surveillance (with Nyatta, I.), ESI Africa, 2017
  • A Nigerian Cure for the Banking Crisis (with Ajayi, K. and Oluwo, S.), ACM Insight, 2013

Speaking Engagements

  • Sovereign Debt Restructuring and Finance - Current Themes for Africa (with the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice), 30/06/2021
  • BusinessDay Future of Power Conference: "Puzzle to Power: Fitting the Pieces for a Secure and Sustainable Energy Future", 29/06/2021
  • Supporting Young Lawyers in Sub-Saharan Africa (with the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice), 26/02/2021
  • BusinessDay Future of Power Conference: "Unlocking the Potential of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry", 03/10/2019
  • African Legal Support Facility Nigeria PPP (Rail & Inland Dry Ports) Capacity Building Seminar (for Federal Government Ministries, Departments & Agencies), 13 - 14/05/2019

Leadership Positions And Professional Affiliations

Member, New York State Bar Association

Member, Nigerian Bar Association

Qualifications

Admissions

Attorney-at-Law, New York, 2019 

Barrister & Solicitor, Supreme Court of Nigeria, 2012 

Academic

LL.M., Columbia Law School, 2016 

BL., Nigerian Law School, 2011 

LL.B., Olabisi Onabanjo University, 2010 

Disclaimer
A&O Shearman was formed on May 1, 2024 by the combination of Shearman & Sterling LLP and Allen & Overy LLP and their respective affiliates (the legacy firms). Any matters referred to above may include matters undertaken by one or more of the legacy firms rather than A&O Shearman.