Bio

Wairimu Karanja is Partner and Chief Legal Officer at Persistent Energy Capital LLC, Africa's Climate Venture Builder. She is part of an investment team that is committed to Africa's sustainable development in renewable energy, climate impact and gender inclusion in energy access. Prior to Persistent, Wairimu founded and headed W&Co|Law & Policy, a specialist advisory in corporate and energy law matters. She is also a past Fellow of the Energy Charter Secretariat, Brussels, and the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Legal Secondment. Wairimu has worked in leading Kenyan and international law firms (JMiles, A&K) and has over 12 years’ legal experience in: energy and natural resources; infrastructure development; private equity, mergers & acquisitions and transactional work; corporate law; employment and immigration law; Intellectual Property law; legislative and policy research; and international arbitration in investment and commercial transactions. She has a Post-Graduate Master of Law (LLM Distinction) in Energy Law and Policy from the University of Dundee’s Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP). Wairimu is a co-organiser of the annual East Africa International Arbitration Conference (EAIAC). She has also spoken at conferences on investment, international disputes and ENR in China, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, the UAE, the UK, and the US. She has contributed to books and publications on ENR, international dispute resolution, and investment in Africa. Wairimu is a member of: The Law Society of Kenya; The Kenya Renewable Energy Association (KEREA); Women in African Power (a Power Africa Initiative); Association of Women in the Extractive Industries in Kenya (AWEIK); Legal and Business Women for Africa (LABFA); and 254Network of Kenyan Women Professionals. She is also involved in pro-bono advisory on matters of sustainable development and training of young professionals.