Legal team size:Four

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

As an FMCG and FMCG business, during periods of instability due to macro-economic factors or intellectual property infringement for example, which may impact our market position, we mitigate the impact by working with the relevant teams to ensure the enforcement of our intellectual property rights using legal means for example. Also, we assess contractual risks, including force majeure clauses, relationships with our vendors, and distribution agreements. As an organisation, we have a crisis management strategy with inputs from the cross-functional crisis response team that includes business leaders, legal, finance, and other teams to make swift decisions during a crisis. In addition, we review contracts and policies periodically with other stakeholders to manage obligations and liabilities, especially in supply chains and distribution networks. Furthermore, we ensure ongoing compliance with regulations, such as changes to tax laws, environmental standards for consumer goods, and our facilities or advertising guidelines for various products. On the business strategy aspect, we work with the various teams to renegotiate supply agreements and ensure alternative sourcing to ensure there are no supply chain disruptions where necessary. We also work with our FMCD teams to ensure compliance with international safety standards and facilitate relationships with global suppliers. As a business with over 120 years in Nigeria, the legal team ensures that our market position is safeguarded by protecting intellectual property (IP) for our brands to prevent counterfeit risks. We proactively mitigate disputes with suppliers, or customers through mediation or settlement to minimise disruptions and also leverage the support of external counsel. We also ensure litigation readiness to manage legal actions by compliance with our in-house policies. There is also stakeholder engagement by way of internal and external collaborations by working with supply chain, sales, and R&D teams to address legal challenges and ensure product launches or innovations comply with regulations. We also reinforce corporate governance policies and codes of conduct to foster a culture of compliance, especially since we operate internationally. In terms of digital resilience, we support e-commerce initiatives by addressing consumer data protection laws and online sales regulations. We also ensure compliance with data privacy laws and work with the information technology team to ensure that we are safeguarded from an information security perspective at every point in time to enable us to prepare for cybersecurity incidents that could impact operations. Finally, from an operational risk management approach, the legal team helps the business to build resilience by strengthening contracts, policies, and risk frameworks based on insights gained during the crisis. By aligning legal strategy with business goals, the legal team ensures the organisation is agile, compliant, and well-prepared to navigate crises while maintaining resilience and market position. Leveraging on engagements with various internal and external stakeholders including business leaders, the legal strategy aligns with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience.

In your opinion, what are the main trends affecting your work now?

I will say a major trend affecting my work is new laws and regulations. I work across various jurisdictions and there are laws/bills impacting finance, the digital economy, and data privacy to mention a few. This means working on internal policy documents and working to effect the necessary changes with various stakeholders to ensure that we comply with the laws or the anticipated changes to the laws where the bills are still at the reading stage. In line with the National strategy to boost the digital economy, the legal team ensures it is kept informed of the legal requirements in this light. This positions us to advise the business better in considering the business trends of digital transformation and e-commerce growth. We are also positioned to ensure that the business team is aware of consumer rights in digital sales, and jurisdictional issues for e-commerce transactions.

Also, in the data protection and privacy compliance space, the legal team organises training across various jurisdictions within our purview to ensure that we comply with the Data Protection Laws where we operate. We also work with the IT teams to ensure proper data governance and optimal cybersecurity standards on an ongoing basis. There is also a rise in product counterfeiting, and we work with various teams to ensure the protection of our intellectual property which is crucial to maintaining our market share and consumer trust gained over the years. In addition, from a climate change perspective and in consideration of sustainability and ESG compliance, there is an increasing demand for environmentally friendly and socially responsible practices. Recently, NGX Limited had a forum on sustainability reporting, and we work with various stakeholders to ensure compliance with sustainability laws, waste management policies, and ESG reporting standards. Furthermore, following the opportunities and Challenges presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to open up cross-border trade opportunities, the legal team as a regional team for Africa, plays a pivotal role in navigating these dynamics by conducting comprehensive research to map out regulatory requirements across target markets within AfCFTA. In addition, we continue to review compliance guides for tariffs, customs, and local laws. We also provide support in registering trademarks in new jurisdictions to prevent counterfeiting of our products, to ensure the protection of our brand reputation and market share.

What strategic priorities are guiding your legal team into 2025?

As an organisation in the FMCD and FMCG space, as the legal team, our strategic priorities into 2025, especially since we operate in dynamic and challenging environments across Africa, is basically to align with broader business goals and anticipate evolving legal, regulatory, and market trends. Stakeholder relationships are very key for us, and we will proactively engage with regulators and continue crossfunctional collaboration to align legal strategies with broader business objectives. In supporting business growth, we will optimise agreements to ensure the brand’s protection and compliance with local laws. For supply chain optimisation, we will continue to negotiate flexible supply chain contracts that account for potential disruptions, including force majeure, inflation, and currency risks. One major strategy is to strengthen our regulatory compliance framework by keeping abreast with evolving regulations in areas like advertising, digital governance, and data privacy, (for example, the Nigeria Data Protection Act, the Data Protection Act of Ghana, and the Data Protection Act of Kenya and global standards like GDPR), and environmental sustainability. Additionally, to enhance operational efficiency within the legal team, we will use legal technology tools for capacity building, contract management, compliance tracking, and litigation management to improve efficiency. Also, we are looking to address legal issues related to the use of artificial intelligence, particularly in the context of consumer engagement and supply chain management. We will streamline our dispute resolution and risk management mechanisms to identify vulnerabilities in contracts, operations, and compliance, develop mitigation plans to resolve disputes efficiently, and preserve business relationships. We will continue to review our legal contingency plans for potential economic disruptions, such as currency devaluation, and inflation.