Meet Aniekan Ukpanah

Meet Aniekan

Bio

Aniekan Ukpanah is the Senior Partner of the law firm of Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie. He heads the firm’s banking and finance, project finance, and real estate teams. He advises on the structuring and financing of large-scale construction, infrastructure, and energy projects, the capital and money markets, and syndicated loans.

He co-led the team that advised an international financial institution on a US$50,000,000.00 facility to one of the top five Nigerian banks, and advises investors in the gas sector, including one of the largest extractors of natural gas in the world, in relation to various Nigerian oil & gas projects. In addition to legal services, he provides client training and presents papers on security for bank lending, secured credit transactions and legal issues associated with PPPs.

Slightly outside of his banking and finance focus, Mr. Ukpanah acted as the team leader in a World Bank/USAID-funded project to devise a ‘road map’ to guide foreign investors who wish to invest in Nigeria.
Aniekan is ranked as an Eminent Practitioner for his Banking & Finance work by Chambers Global; as a Highly Regarded Lawyer in the Banking, Capital Markets, Project Development, and Project Finance sections of the International Financial Law Review (Expert Guides); a Leading Individual for his Real Estate and Construction practice by the Legal 500 and is commended in Who’s Who Legal.

Aniekan is the Chairman of the board of Directors of Lex Mundi, the world’s leading network of independent law firms, with 150+ member firms and more than 22,000 lawyers worldwide. He also chairs and serves on the boards of various private limited liability companies. He is a member of the governing council of Obong University, the first licensed private university in Akwa Ibom State.

Career

025-till date Senior Partner, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie
2019-2025 Managing Partner, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie
2015 Member, Akwa Ibom State Technical Committee on Ibom Deep Seaport
2005 Member, Central Bank of Nigeria Technical Committee on Bank Consolidation
2002-2006 Treasurer, Capital Markets’ Solicitors Association of Nigeria
2003 Member, Federal Government Study Group advising the Federal Government of Nigeria on the Review of the Nigerian Tax System
2000-2019 Partner, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie
1998-1999 Senior Associate, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie
1989-1998 Associate, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie

Qualifcations

988 BL, Nigerian Law School
1987 B.A., Law and Economics, Dorset Institute (University of Bournemouth) Bournemouth, United Kingdom

Bar Admission

1988 Nigeria

Professional Membership

Nigerian Bar Association (member, sub-committee on banking, finance and insolvency section on Business Law)
International Bar Association
Capital Markets’ Solicitors Association of Nigeria