AFOLAKE LAWAL
Afolake Lawal is the founder and Managing Partner of Imperial Law Office. Her core focus is on corporate matters, with a bias for corporate governance, commercial law practice; mergers & acquisitions, corporate restructuring and corporate finance amongst other areas of law. She has nearly three decades experience in advising and growing global companies with significant operating scale and complexity. Afolake is a co-founder of GTI Group and, prior to founding Imperial Law Office, she was the director of Business Development & Strategy at GTI Capital Limited, where she led the organisation’s global business strategy across Africa and Western Europe. Her ingenuity in corporate finance and business strategy has been invaluable in attaining the often-required balance between law and exigencies of business in meeting clients’ needs. In 2008, she was appointed a member of the Board of International Breweries Plc (IB Plc). She subsequently became the pioneer Chairman of IB Plc’s Governance and Remuneration Committee where she led the entrenchment of corporate governance controls and sustainability practice on the Board of IB Plc for 10 years. Her positive contribution as a Board member was instrumental to the rapid growth of the company to an international brewer with enhanced visibility and competitive edge. She joined the Board of Eterna Plc in 2009. She serves on two standing committees of the Board namely the Risk Management & HSE Committee and the Governance, Nomination and Remuneration Committee (GNR Committee). Afolake is the Chairman of the GNR Committee at Eterna Plc and in her capacity as Chairman, she has instituted a robust governance framework for corporate growth and sustainable profitability. Afolake also serves on the Board of Champion Breweries Plc and Morison Industries Plc. She is a SEC-licensed adviser, and a member of the Institute of Directors, Nigerian Bar Association, Women Corporate Directors (Nigeria Chapter), Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, amongst others. Afolake Lawal is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and an alumnus of the Harvard Business School. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; A Bachelor of Laws Degree from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge UK; a Masters degree in International Law & Diplomacy from University of Lagos and an MSc. in Corporate Governance & Finance from Liverpool John Moores University.