Name: Camilla Achieng Omollo                                

Position: Legal Counsel                                             

Company: Mirova SunFunder                                    

Sector/Industry: Renewable energy (debt) financing

Worked in the current position for (number of years/months): Approximately one year

Total years as an in-house lawyer: Approximately one year

A day in the life: 

I am Legal Counsel at Mirova SunFunder, a debt financing company dedicated to solving the challenges of energy access and climate change in emerging markets, with a current focus on the clean energy transition in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia. I’m currently based in Nairobi and part of a legal team of about eight lawyers spanning across Paris, London and Nairobi.

Most of my time is spent providing transactional advice and support on deals throughout the deal cycle (structuring, documentation, negotiation, closing, monitoring, restructuring) in connection with energy transition projects across various sectors in Africa and Asia (C&I, mini-grids, SHS, carbon financing, telco).

On a day-to-day basis, I spend a lot of time on calls engaging with members of our investments team. In just the past few weeks, for example, I’ve worked closely with various deal teams on:

• researching and brainstorming the viability of a novel debt documentation structure for an upcoming telco project;
• restructuring a transaction with an existing borrower seeking to raise new equity; and
• coordinating with external counsel on various issues arising in connection with an agri-solar syndication, including concerns around sharing security with unsecured creditors.

Aside from my transactional work, I also work on legal operations and administration across our entities. While this work can seem a little mundane on the surface, it’s been critical in deepening my understanding of the company’s various business lines.

The best thing about my current job is:

The incredible exposure I’m getting to new jurisdictions in Africa and Asia. Prior to this role, I primarily worked on transactions in Kenya and Tanzania. I’ve since had the opportunity to work on (and grapple with unique legal issues in) ongoing transactions in Vietnam, the Central African Republic, Nigeria, and Liberia, to name just a few.

I’m also gaining extensive commercial acumen through interacting with our investment teams. It’s fascinating to step out of the legal silo and confront the more practical issues that constantly need to be addressed to get a deal “over the line.” Our mission and the sectors we operate in require us to be agile and adaptable, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to develop these skills.

The most challenging thing about my current job is:

All the various moving parts we, as the legal team, need to constantly stay on top of! As I mentioned, we are involved in all stages of our deal cycle and in general legal administration and operations. I can amend an NDA, review a term sheet, draft an RFP, negotiate a facility agreement, coordinate with external counsel on security documents, and oversee the appointment of new board members, all in one day! Staying organised and prioritizing urgent workstreams has helped me coordinate competing demands. I also try to be as communicative as possible in managing the expectations of our internal and external clients.

The most pivotal career decision: taking the unconventional route and choosing to specialize in the projects and infrastructure space early in my career. I love this practice area!

One of the biggest challenges I’ve had to face in your in-house career journey was making the leap to an in-house role. Several of my mentors and older colleagues thought my move was premature and encouraged me to hone my technical skills in private practice. Although it wasn’t easy to go against the advice of people I trusted and admired, I decided to lean into my inner voice. I’m really happy with my decision so far.

What advice would I give my younger self? You are the biggest and most experienced authority of your own life.

Key influencers that have shaped my journey: During my projects and infrastructure pupillage rotation, I was trained by brilliant lawyers like Amyn Mussa (Partner at ALN Kenya), Edwin Baru and Sanelisiwe Mpofana.

Edwin is now a partner at Bowmans Kenya, and Sanelisiwe recently joined the legal team at Mirova SunFunder. I learned through them in particular that it is possible to be a diligent expert in your field while still showing up authentically. I saw that I didn’t need to leave myself at the door when it came to my work, which continues to help me build and leverage relationships in my career.

I’m also very inspired by Chris Garner, who currently leads our legal team and manages to keep us calm in the face of all challenges. I can only hope to lead with as much composure as he does one day!

One cool thing I’ve observed in the legal industry recently? 

Favourite pro bono/ volunteer or charitable activity: I enjoy engaging with slightly younger lawyers and professionals on navigating their early careers, whether reviewing a CV or providing some interview tips.

If I were not practising law, I would probably be: I love to read and always saw myself as a writer or working in the publishing world.

What (singular) achievement are you most proud of? Taking a risk and pursuing a master’s degree in development studies after I completed my LLB. I gave myself a chance to feed my intellectual curiosity outside the law and poured myself into my degree, graduating with Distinction and as one of the top in my class at the LSE.                                    

Something you love doing but you’re not that great at? Singing…no calls for an encore from me!

Something you dislike doing that you’re pretty good at? I’m a decent cook but rarely make time for it.

In 5 years time I’d love to be:

In 5 years, I’d love to still be contributing to solving energy and infrastructure challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. There are lots of questions lawyers and other practitioners in this space continue to seek and create solutions for: How can we step outside traditional risk allocation frameworks to make much-needed projects in nascent markets a reality? How much of our perception of the credit profile of a project is based on real vs. perceived risk? What sort of infrastructure classes should we be focusing our attention on to alleviate energy security and equity? Our work continues to be an iterative learning process that I’m excited to remain a part of.