2026 SPEAKERS

Kamal is the Head of Stephenson Harwood’s International Arbitration and Africa group, and Co-Lead of the India group. He specialises in complex, cross-border international arbitration, litigation and fraud and asset recovery, highly regarded for his abilities in multi-jurisdictional disputes. He acts for governments, government entities, banks, private corporations and high net worth individuals in a range of matters including those relating to energy projects and infrastructure, joint ventures, banking and finance, shareholder arrangements, and a range of schemes commonly used to defraud individuals and corporations. Kamal is highly ranked in the legal directories including Chambers & Partners (UK, Global and Asia-Pacific) and The Legal 500 (UK and Asia-Pacific). Kamal is one of only five lawyers ranked in Band 1 for Africa-wide dispute resolution in Chambers Global 2026. They comment that "Kamal is one of the best lawyers. He is extremely experienced and knows the continent like the back of his hand." (Chambers Global, 2024). He was named as a leading international arbitration practitioner in the Lexology Index (formerly Who's Who Legal) 2017 - 2025 for arbitration and has been recognised in Africa’s 20 Arbitration Powerlist 2026. Kamal is also recognised in the Lawdragon Global Litigation 500 list that features attorneys who specialise in international arbitration. Kamal is the immediate past President of the LCIA African Users Council, having previously served as Vice President. He is currently serving a second term as a Court Member of the LCIA, appointed under exceptional circumstances in accordance with the LCIA Constitution. Since 2023, Kamal has been the President of the Court at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre. He also serves as Chairman of the Eastern Africa Association and is a Trustee of Rhino Ark. Kamal co-published the text of the ‘African Promise’, an initiative aimed at addressing the underrepresentation of Africans on international arbitration tribunals. He is also the co-author of the leading text, “Arbitration in Africa: A Review of Key Jurisdictions.”