Founders

Dr. Bamgbose is a member of the International Arbitration Group and the Africa Practice at Hogan Lovells International LLP. As a lawyer in the market-leading arbitration team in London, he is involved in high-value commercial arbitrations spanning multiple sectors and jurisdictions, including Africa. Prior to joining Hogan Lovells, he had a stint in the Commonwealth department at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Court of Arbitration in Paris. Upon his qualification to practice law in Nigeria, Ademola also worked at top dispute resolution law firm, Babalakin & Co, where he routinely advised on a range of commercial disputes and represented clients in complex litigations at superior courts in Nigeria.

Ademola has a keen interest in emerging markets and regularly contributes to the ongoing discourse on the arbitration practice in Africa. He completed a PhD (with distinction) at the University of Warwick, United Kingdom. His thesis touched on the arbitration frameworks and their suitability for evolving markets in Nigeria, Ghana and the OHADA region. He also served as Assistant Editor of the Journal of Law, Social Justice and Global Development. Ademola obtained his LLM degree from the University College London (UCL) and LL.B from Nigeria’s premier university, University of Ibadan.

Ademola is committed to harnessing the opportunities for growth in Africa. He is the co-founder of Africa Arbitration and the Africa Arbitration Blog. He is also the International Liaison Officer at Association of Young Arbitrators, Nigeria where he serves as a bridge between the organisation and the arbitration community in Europe.  He is a member of the International Bar Association and has served as National Representative, where he represented the interests of young lawyers and law students in the UK. He is also a member of the ICC Young Arbitrators Forum, Young International Arbitration Group (of the London Court of International Arbitration) and Young Singapore International Arbitration Centre.

In addition to obtaining a certificate in Human Rights Law from Florida State University in the United States, he is involved in several social welfare initiatives and sits on the Board of Trustees of a number of Non-Governmental Organisations in Nigeria.

Featured in the Legal 500 Africa Arbitration Powerlist 2021 as “one of the thought leaders of arbitration in Africa” and by described by peers as “innovative and exceptional”, Abayomi is an International Arbitration Partner at Pensbury Attorneys & Solicitors – an arbitration boutique law firm in Nigeria. He has garnered circa 15 years’ experience in dispute resolution. He was part of the teams that represented multinational and domestic corporations in high profile commercial disputes and has advised government agencies on several cutting-edge projects in Africa. Beyond leading big-ticket mandates, the multiple award winner is the prime mover behind several important arbitration initiatives in Africa. He is the Founder of the Association of Young Arbitrators (AYA), the Executive Director of the Africa Arbitration Academy and is the Managing Editor of the African Journal of International Arbitration. Abayomi is an alumnus of Queen’s University in Canada, the University College London, Harvard Negotiation Institute, ICC Summer School, and the Paris Arbitration Academy. He has completed work programs in the London offices of Baker McKenzie LLP and 4-5 Gray’s Inn.

Abayomi has been appointed by the Nigerian courts and has sat as an arbitrator in several domestic and international arbitrations. He was recently appointed by the Nigerian court to chair an arbitral tribunal over a multi-Billion Naira construction dispute. His PhD project focused on developing a Model Law on Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration and received generous funding from different institutions including the $40,000 scholarship award by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo, Canada. This important research project was also nominated for the national round of the SSHRC Doctoral Scholarship in Canada.

Abayomi is a Professor of International Business Law at Loyalist College in Canada, a Visiting Professor at the College of Law in Bowen University in Nigeria, Tutor and Faculty Member at the CIArb Diploma in International Arbitration Programme at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Court Member of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre and is listed on panels at the Cairo Regional Centre for International Arbitration and the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration. The H.R. Stuart Ryan Award Fellow has published several award-winning thought leadership materials. He is Co-chair of the Africa Committee for Greener Arbitration Pledge.