Copyright : Re-publication of this article is authorised only in the following circumstances; the writer and Africa Legal are both recognised as the author and the website address www.africa-legal.com and original article link are back linked. Re-publication without both must be preauthorised by contacting editor@africa-legal.com
Doreen Onwong’a joins G&A Advocates as Head of Corporate Commercial as firm acts on ‘milestone’ Kenyan IPO
Established in 2006 by Eric Gumbo, G&A Advocates LLP is a full-service firm that contributes to key sectors of the Kenyan and regional economies. It has recently boosted its capital markets expertise be adding corporate finance ‘titan’ Doreen Onwong’a as its new Head of Corporate Commercial
The pan-African ambitions and breadth of G&A Advocates LLP’s corporate and commercial practice, alongside the complementary skillsets of the partnership, were among the reasons why capital markets expert Doreen Onwong’a has joined the leading Kenyan law firm in 2026, she shares with Africa Legal in a new interview.
“I look forward to growing and strengthening this practice area and I’m excited about the opportunities ahead and what we can do as a firm,” says Onwong’a, who is the firm’s new Head of Corporate Commercial. The firm, she notes, has been at the forefront of “a good number of sovereign finance transactions” in recent years.
Over the past two decades, G&A Advocates LLP has become a trusted advisor, handling highly complex and sensitive matters, including providing counsel in electoral disputes that have arisen following past presidential elections in Kenya.
G&A’s purpose, founder Eric Gumbo has previously told Africa Legal, is to provide real-world solutions to real-world problems, with clients at the heart of everything.
Onwong’a has hit the ground running at G&A Advocates, as the firm is, together with TripleOKLaw LLP, advising the Privatization Authority and Kenya Pipeline Company on the privatisation of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) through an Initial Public Offer.
On 19 January, she attended a milestone event alongside G&A Advocates founder Eric Gumbo and new colleague Nelson Karumba, as one of East Africa’s largest IPOs - and one of the most significant public offerings in recent history - was opened.
“The KPC IPO reminded me that the true practice of the law is in the doing,” shared Doreen. “The transactions done, the curiosity in understanding how different transactions were structured, the time spent understanding the regulatory framework as well as the ability to understand client needs… All that and more proved useful in providing agile advice and solutions to the team.”
Onwong’a has more than a decade of experience advising in areas including capital markets, corporate and project finance, and real estate. She has acted as lead legal advisor on some of the largest capital markets transactions in Kenya, including the new KES 100 billion IPO of KPC; the KES 44.5 billion Talanta Infrastructure Asset Backed Security, the first Sukuk issued in Kenya to finance a PPP project; and the 2020 Centum Real Estate Zero Coupon Bond. In addition, Onwong’a regularly advises on the structuring of private debt and equity issuances.
She tells Africa Legal that she is excited about the trajectory that Kenya and East Africa is taking in terms of capital markets.
“We see increased regional investor participation across borders, and the opportunities coming through the institutionalisation of real estate,” she says. “I’m looking forward to supporting companies seeking to work across the region.”
A graduate of the University of Nairobi, Onwong’a is also an award-winning Certified Secretary and an accredited Governance Auditor. She joins G&A Advocates from KN Law, where she spent the past six years as a partner. Earlier in her career, Onwong’a also served as a senior in-house counsel at an Kenyan investment bank, and a multinational investments and real estate company.