Biography: Banking

Mr Charles Rwechungura is an advocate and corporate law consultant in Tanzania, managing the law firm CRB Africa Legal.

He has vast experience in banking and project finance, capital markets and securities, insolvencies and selected commercial litigation. He has handled important assignments in these sectors, the most recent being acting as Tanzanian counsel to Barrick Africa in relation to a loan syndication, acting as legal adviser in three bond issues, one IPO and one public offer of shares by East African Breweries Limited. In litigation he handled the GAPCO receivership matter.

Mr Rwechungura has to his credit a number of project finance transactions in the field of mining including advising individual and syndicate lenders on securitisation under Tanzanian law.

Prior to launching CRB Attorneys (which is now CRB Africa Legal), Mr Rwechungura was partner in Rex Attorneys before which he had served as chief legal counsel and secretary to the Tanzania Investment Bank (TIB), then a development bank which raised foreign and local financial resources for on-lending to local development projects on medium and long-term basis together with offering business consultancy services. He started private practice as a founder partner in Maajar & Rwechungura Law Office the predecessor firm of Maajar, Rwechungura, Nguluma and Makani, (Advocates) which later merged with another corporate law firm to form a new firm styled and known as Rex Attorneys. He retired from Rex Attorneys in 2008 to form his own firm initially known as CRB ATTORNEYS and now known as CRB Africa Legal. The change of the name came about because recently the firm became an associate firm in the Norton Rose Group though an association with Norton Rose Africa Legal.

Some of the clients which Mr. Rwechungura has rendered services to are: Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Limited, Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, FMO (Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappj voor Ontwikkelingslanden NV), First National Bank, East African Development Bank and advising the bank on the proposed restructuring of the securities, Barclays Bank Tanzania Limited, Norsad Agency, African Banking Corporation Limited, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, Stanbic Bank Tanzania Limited, Citibank Tanzania Limited, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Bank of Baroda, Diamond Trust Tanzania Limited, Bank M Limited, and Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (PTA Bank).

Charles Rwechungura is a member of the Tanganyika Law Society, the East African Law Society, and the International Bar Association.

Biography: Mining

Mr Charles Rwechungura is an advocate and corporate law consultant in Tanzania, managing the law firm CRB Africa Legal.

He has, since late 2006, focused on the mining sector in addition to his specialisation in banking, project finance, capital markets and securities, insolvencies and selected commercial litigation. He has provided important services to mining companies including conducting mineral rights due diligences and giving legal opinions, negotiating joint venture agreements advising on acquisition of mineral rights and mining businesses' and acting for companies as retained counsel. He has vast experience in project finance and capital markets in the mining industry, especially in giving mineral rights opinion as Tanzanian counsel to several mining companies seeking to raise money on overseas exchanges and restructuring of loans.

Mr Rwechungura has been actively involved in the mining sector legal regulatory reforms. He was one of the consultants who wrote the Mining Policy and the resultant Mining Act of 2009, and participated in several stakeholders' conferences that preceded the passage of the new 2010 Act. He attends and often makes presentations at international mining conferences such as the Indaba and annual mining summits in Toronto.

Mr Rwechungura is a regular contributor to Doing Business-Mining and Getting the Deal Through - Mining publications.

Prior to launching CRB Attorneys (which is now CRB Africa Legal), Mr Rwechungura was partner in Rex Attorneys before which he had served as chief legal counsel and secretary to the Tanzania Investment Bank (TIB). He started private practice as a founder partner in Maajar & Rwechungura Law Office the predecessor firm of Maajar, Rwechungura, Nguluma and Makani, (Advocates) which later merged with another corporate law firm to form a new firm styled and known as Rex Attorneys. He retired from Rex Attorneys in 2008 to form his own firm initially known as CRB Attorneys and now CRB Africa Legal. The name change came about because the firm recently became an associate firm in the Norton Rose Group through an association with Norton Rose Africa Legal of South Africa. Charles Rwechungura is a member of the Tanganyika Law Society, the East African Law Society, and the International bar Association.