Ed is a finance lawyer with a broad emerging markets finance practice covering development loans, commodity finance, investment grade loans, leverage & acquisition finance, real estate finance, sovereign loans and restructurings. Before joining Olaniwun Ajayi (UK) LLP in July 2026, Ed spent his career at leading international law firms, including 7 years as an associate and senior associate at Allen & Overy and 15 years as a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills. During this time Ed was based variously in London, Moscow and Johannesburg and he spent 6 years as managing partner of Herbert Smith Freehills South Africa. Ed has worked on a very wide array of transactions across the African continent and in terms of market recognition, Ed has been ranked by Chambers, Legal 500 and IFLR 1000 as a leading individual for many years and most recently was ranked by Chambers Global 2024 for Africa-wide banking & finance.