Cyril Pesha is a Tanzanian Advocate who advises clients on a range of banking, insurance, asset leasing, property, corporate and commercial matters. He has extensive experience of term finance transactions in Tanzania and East Africa as an in-house Counsel to Tanzania Development Finance Company Ltd from 1985 to 1995 and East African Development Bank from 1995 to 2005.He thus had 20 years’ continuous experience advising in borrowing from international lenders like World Bank, African Development Bank, European Investment Bank and re-lending the funds in development projects, or investing them in equity in broad range industry/sectors in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.
In Tanzania first, but later in the entire East Africa, he was especially exposed to diverse experiences including corporate management experience of a network of subsidiaries and associated companies and on acquisitions and disposals, debt recovery and receiverships, trade finance, asset lease and, comparative labour law regimes of East Africa, construction and other arbitration experience. While working with East African Development Bank Mr. Pesha was part of the in house legal team on numerous bond transactions in which the bank was the issuer. He is an accredited/licensed Arbitrator in Tanzania of the Tanzania International Arbitration Centre and member on the Panel of Arbitrators for the Tanzania Institute of Arbitrators (TIArb) and has had extensive hands on experience as Arbitrator, or Counsel in at least 10 disputes the earliest in 1993,the most recent accomplished under the new Tanzanian Arbitration Act, setting aside undeserving Awards before the Commercial Division of the High Court besides in one instance acting as Counsel in Arbitration under South African Chamber of Mines Rules ending in dismissal. Among other activities, Mr Pesha represents the Tanganyika Law Society on the Judiciary Committee of Court Brokers representing the Tanganyika Law Society.