Afriwise reshapes the African legal tech landscape with its landmark acquisition of LawExplorer

Afriwise’s acquisition of LawExplorer signals a bold shift and a strategic leap forward for how companies in Africa manage regulatory change, says Steven De Backer, CEO and Founder of Afriwise, Africa’s fastest-growing legal-intelligence platform. 

The landmark deal, revealed this morning, unites Afriwise’s unmatched multi-country legal-intelligence platform with LawExplorer’s two decades of regulatory tracking expertise, starting with expanded capabilities in South Africa, one of the African continent’s most regulated and economically significant markets.

“With this move, we firmly establish Afriwise as the definitive one-stop platform for legal and regulatory intelligence in Africa while at the same time gaining a powerful foothold in the South African legal market,” says De Backer. 

Companies across Africa face fast-changing, fragmented, and opaque regulatory environments, says Afriwise. This acquisition unites two market leaders with complementary strengths: Afriwise’s advanced tech and continent-wide reach in terms of legal data, and LawExplorer’s trusted workflows with respect to regulatory monitoring and curated content. It allows Afriwise to expand the breadth and depth of its tools and content, as it applied LawExplorer’s methodology across Africa. 

LawExplorer’s flagship Sentinel platform has been trusted for over two decades for its precision and editorial rigour. This new deal creates the most comprehensive platform for companies looking to manage regulatory risk across multiple African jurisdictions, and positions Afriwise as the undisputed leader in legal and regulatory intelligence across Africa, providing companies with real-time, actionable insight to confidently manage regulatory risk and compliance continent-wide. 

“Together, we’re delivering a uniquely powerful solution that enables companies to anticipate risk, understand the legal and regulatory framework and make confident decisions across jurisdictions,” says De Backer. 

This acquisition aligns LawExplorer’s strengths in “South African regulatory analysis and regulatory savoir-faire” with Afriwise’s continental vision and technology stack.

The parties to the deal say LawExplorer’s editorial approach, with its focus on high-impact laws and regulatory interpretation, seamlessly complements Afriwise’s cutting-edge, pan-African platform that features structured laws, practical guidance, expert insights from 180+ law firms, and scalable monitoring tools. 

“Together, we are solving one of the most pressing challenges for companies operating in Africa: staying ahead of fast-changing regulatory environments while making sense of fragmented, and opaque legal frameworks and requirements,” said Beulah Lüttig, Director at LawExplorer. “This is where legal and regulatory intelligence becomes a true strategic asset.”

The combined business will operate under the Afriwise brand, moving forward. LawExplorer’s team will join Afriwise, bringing critical expertise, products, and client relationships into the fold. Over the coming months, customers are set to benefit from an expanded range of tools, deeper regulatory insight, and an integrated user experience, starting in South Africa, and rapidly scaling across the continent.

This latest move continues Afriwise’s recent evolution and strong growth, which includes its partnership with Africa Legal to launch the first GC Forum | Governance, Risk & Compliance, on 17 September 2025 in Johannesburg, to coincide with the Biennial IBA African Regional Forum Conference. 

The future of regulatory intelligence in Africa is being built now and Afriwise, which is backed by international investors and partnerships with over 180 law firms across 40+ African jurisdictions, is leading the charge. While many global legal-tech players continue to focus on mature markets, Afriwise is doubling down where legal complexity is greatest and clarity is most urgently needed.