One day, you have a brilliant idea to build a financial technology company that could bring millions of Nigerians into the financial sector, and the next day, you’re confused by a myriad of regulations that you must adhere to before your big idea can launch. While you could decide to tackle these regulations singularly, you could find a better use for your time.
The Trusted Advisors have spent over a decade trudging through Nigeria’s legal and regulatory landscape, so you don’t have to. Founded by Taye Awofiranye in 2011 as a full-service law firm with an office in Lagos, the firm later expanded to Abuja. Comprising three partners and 25 associates, it has a reach that extends into parts of Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
“Taye Awofiranye founded The Trusted Advisors to replicate the distinction and high standards of legal practice he experienced in the United Kingdom for Nigerian clients,” Adekoya Adedeji, Marketing and Brand Communications Manager at The Trusted Advisors, tells Techpoint Africa.
The Trusted Advisors is an umbrella shop for legal services with specific areas of practice in corporate commercial law, fiscal finance, investment and compliance, mergers and acquisitions, labour law, and conflict management.
Beyond this, the firm is committed to helping startups and foreign companies expanding into Nigeria scale quickly without getting stumped by fragmented regulations.
For local and international startups looking to operate in Nigeria, regulatory compliance remains a significant hurdle that must be overcome. For one, there is a plethora of requirements to meet and no central location to find information. On the other hand, there is a need to find legal professionals who have enough contextual knowledge about your business and industry to provide accurate information.
“Our clientele ranges from banks to real estate to oil and gas, and we do a lot of work helping businesses in Asia establish in Nigeria. But, beyond big clients, our business has been primarily built on helping startups with compliance, licensing, and fundraising,” Adedeji says.
Betting on startups
While the firm has established corporations across the world in its portfolio, it recognises the importance of betting on startups, many of which have the potential to become big corporations.
For The Trusted Advisors, working with startups is not simply about covering a growing market; it is about building relationships from infancy.
“A lot of traditional companies that we have started from somewhere, and we understand that there are a number of avoidable mistakes that startups make because of a lack of guidance and ignorance. So, we want to build relationships with them from infancy, correct the narrative, and guide them as they grow.
“It is fulfilling to know that we are part of a story,” Olawunmi Ojo, Managing Associate at The Trusted Advisors, tells Techpoint Africa.
The Trusted Advisors boasts that many of the startups that came to them at the beginning continue to partner with the firm even as they grow to become powerhouses.
Tailor-made solutions for every problem
While there might be a tendency to assume that every company within the same industry requires the same legal solution, Adedeji says that The Trusted Advisors tailors specific solutions for every problem, regardless of how similar it may seem to another company’s.
“Our approach has always been to simplify the problem. There is no general approach; it is tailor-made solutions for every client and every problem they may face.”
For startups at the funding stage, the firm offers legal advisory services and transaction structuring tailored to the company’s specific needs.
“We also guide them on the different funding options available to them and the pros and cons of each option,” Ojo explains.
In many other cases, startups of all stages require regulatory and compliance support, and The Trusted Advisors guides such companies on the regulations peculiar to their industry.
“For example, if we are working with a fintech at the starting stage, we are able to help them with the requirements of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), from properly setting up the business to licensing, governance, and equity structuring, and even employee-related matters,” Ojo says.
Established companies are not exempt from making costly regulatory compliance mistakes. In the last 18 months, established fintechs such as OPay, Moniepoint, and Paystack have all been fined by the CBN, with some fines reaching as high as ₦1 billion.
Hence, The Trusted Advisors does not simply want to support startups at their growth stage; it also wants to ensure that when they have grown, nothing knocks them back down.
The firm’s best chance of acquiring and retaining customers in an overly saturated legal ecosystem lies in its ability to offer truly differentiated solutions across an ever-increasing range of industries, demonstrating that it possesses the required legal expertise that technology companies need to succeed in Nigeria.
