Wilbert Kapinga

Wilbert Kapinga is a Senior Partner in Bowmans' Tanzania office, specialising in infrastructure law. He has over 30 years of experience advising Tanzanian and international financial institutions and corporations on corporate, regulatory and transactional matters, with particular expertise in project finance, public-private partnerships (PPP), and infrastructure development transactions involving roads, railways, sea travel, airports, energy, and mining projects.

He has represented the Government of Tanzania in a bilateral investment treaty dispute concerning the expropriation of an investment in a water and sewerage infrastructure project, and advised Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) in a construction dispute over the Kihansi Hydro Electric Power Station. He has also advised on the financing of the Ruhudji Hydroelectric power plant, the Lake Victoria Marine Transport Project, the Salama Waterfront Development project, and the Mtwara Development Corridor. He has been involved in significant mining transactions, including advising on the Mchuchuma Coal Mine and Liganga Iron Ore Corporation, and has acted on numerous M&A deals, including advising Zhonghong Holding Co. Ltd on its acquisition of Abercrombie & Kent Group, and Kansai Plascon Africa on its acquisition of Sadolin's East African coating business.

Wilbert holds an LL.B (Hons), LL.M, and Ph.D, with Masters degrees from the University of Dar es Salaam and Columbia University in New York, and a Doctorate from Northeastern University in Boston, USA. He is a full member of the Tanzania Institute of Arbitrators and an Accredited Mediator, Negotiator, and Arbitrator in Tanzania. He is ranked Tier 1 in General Business Law by Chambers & Partners, recognised by The Legal 500 and IFLR1000 as a leading corporate lawyer in Tanzania, and has been consistently ranked in Band 1 by international law directories for over a decade.