DESMOND OGBA is a partner in the Finance and Energy & Natural Resources Practice Groups at TEMPLARS –one of Africa’s leading law firms.
He holds a Master of Laws degree from Harvard University, graduated with First Class Honours from the Nigerian Law School, and holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from Ebonyi State University. Before joining TEMPLARS, Desmond was a finance & projects associate at the Lagos-based firm of G. Elias & Co., and a visiting associate at the London office of Latham & Watkins, LLP.
Desmond has extensive experience advising project companies, sponsors, borrowers, banks, funds, multilateral finance institutions, export credit agencies, other financial institutions, and corporates on diverse transactions. His expertise cuts across mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, energy and infrastructure financing, structured finance, and corporate finance. He has a deep understanding of the financial services sector in Nigeria, and routinely interfaces with regulators and agencies in the Nigerian financial services space to provide pragmatic solutions to client issues.
Desmond has contributed in various ways towards the development of financial services law and regulation in Nigeria. He was a member of a Technical Committee on Banking, Finance, and Insurance – a multidisciplinary committee of experts appointed by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to advise on needed financial law reforms. He also served as a member of the Technical Committee on Factoring and Assignment of Receivables – a multidisciplinary committee of ten experts selected by the Federal House of Representatives to advise on the formulation of a legal framework for factoring and assignment of receivables to ease international trade, factoring, and assignment of trade receivables in Nigeria. He also serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Banking and Finance Committee of the NBA Section on Business Law.
Desmond is consistently ranked in international legal directories, including the IFLR 1000 Guide to the World’s Leading Financial Law Firms, Chambers Global Guide to the Legal Profession, and Legal 500.
