International law firm Pinsent Masons has announced the appointment of Kieran Whyte as a Partner in its South African office, significantly strengthening the firm’s energy, infrastructure and projects offering across South Africa and the broader African continent.
Whyte joins Pinsent Masons with four decades of experience advising on complex energy and infrastructure projects across South Africa and Africa. He was most recently a Partner and Head of Baker McKenzie’s Energy, Mining & Infrastructure Practice Group in Johannesburg, a role he held for the past 11 years. Prior to this, he led project teams at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyer (CDH) and ENS, and earlier in his career served as Group Legal Adviser at Eskom Holdings SOC Limited.
Throughout his career, Whyte has advised across the full project value chain, representing project sponsors, developers, contractors, suppliers and lenders on large-scale greenfield and brownfield developments. His expertise spans a wide range of public-private partnership (PPP) models, commercial contracting structures and concession arrangements, covering project implementation, procurement, development, financing, construction, operation and maintenance.
Whyte has been closely involved in several first-of-their-kind projects, including the South African government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement (REIPPP) Programme, off-grid renewable energy initiatives, gas-to-power and hybrid energy projects, as well as major processing plant developments. His experience further extends to water infrastructure, including desalination projects, as well as road, rail and social infrastructure, and the implementation of complex cross-border projects.
His energy-sector expertise is broad, encompassing power generation, nuclear, oil and gas, renewable energy and clean technologies, coal baseload, gas and green hydrogen projects across South Africa and Southern Africa. He is also widely recognised for his depth of experience in drafting, negotiating and executing PPP and concession agreements, structuring EPC and early works contracts (using both standard and bespoke forms), operation and maintenance agreements, fuel purchase and sale arrangements, and advising on project due diligence, acquisitions and procurement processes.
Commenting on the appointment, Junaid Banoobhai, Partner, Head Of Office, Johannesburg at Pinsent Masons South Africa, said: “Kieran’s appointment is a significant addition to our partnership and reinforces our commitment to supporting clients operating across the energy and infrastructure value chain. His deep sector expertise, leadership experience and long-standing involvement in landmark projects across South Africa and the continent align strongly with our strategic focus on infrastructure-led growth, energy transition and sustainable development. We are delighted to welcome him to the firm.”
Whyte’s appointment comes at a time of increased investment and regulatory activity across Africa’s energy and infrastructure sectors, positioning Pinsent Masons to further support clients navigating complex, large-scale and transformative projects in the region.
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