Ugandan lawyer Ivan Okuda is among the 41 lawyers worldwide picked to represent fellow young counsels on the global young lawyers’ forum.
Established in 1997, the Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG) is an association for practitioners, students and younger members of the arbitration community.
Sponsored by the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), YIAG aims to promote the understanding and use of international arbitration law and practice by providing opportunities for its members to exchange views on topical issues in international commercial arbitration.
Currently, there are over 12,200 members from more than 146 countries.
Membership is open to students, practitioners and younger members of the arbitration community. The upper age limit for membership, for which there is no subscription, is 40 years.
Who is Ivan Okuda?
Born in 1993 in Uganda, Ivan Okuda is an Advocate currently working as a Legal Associate with the leading Ugandan law firm, Anguria and Co. Advocates, where he specializes in Construction Law, Energy Law, and Arbitration. In 2024, Okuda was inducted as a Fellow of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb). He is also a member of Uganda’s Construction Law Institute (CLI), the Uganda Law Society, and the East Africa Law Society.
He has represented and continues to represent clients in arbitration matters, including at the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), where he has acted as Lead Counsel in international construction disputes involving infrastructure and energy projects in Africa. He has also acted as Lead Counsel for clients with construction and energy disputes under Uganda’s International Center for Arbitration and Mediation in Kampala (ICAMEK), as well as the courts of law in Uganda.
Ivan is also regularly nominated and appointed as an Arbitrator by parties in East Africa and is considered in the industry as a rising star in the areas of construction law, energy and arbitration.
He obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree from Makerere University, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Center (LDC) in Uganda, a Master of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies (specializing in Media Law and Investigative Journalism) from South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where he was a Konrad Adenaeur Stiftung (KAS) Media Africa Scholar in 2019.
In 2025, he graduated with a Master of Laws in Construction Law and Arbitration from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland. He is an alumnus of the United States of America’s Department of State’s professional exchange program, the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).
He is passionate about arbitration, regularly writes thought-leadership articles on the subject and has been published by the Kluwer Arbitration blog.
Other appointed young lawyers are;
Mitchell Aghatise from Nigeria
Mitchell Aghatise is a Senior Associate and Team Lead at Olaniwun Ajayi LP, where he has built nearly a decade of experience at the intersection of international arbitration, litigation, complex commercial transactions, and public policy reform. A graduate of the University of Leicester (LL.B) and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LL.M, International Business Law)-where he earned a distinction in Advanced Issues in International Commercial Arbitration-Mitchell combines academic excellence with practical experience advising sovereigns, multinational corporations, and financial institutions on cross-border disputes and investments.
His arbitration practice spans institutional and ad-hoc proceedings, as well as investor-state investment treaty disputes. In this wise, he has advised in bilateral investment treaty arbitrations on issues of expropriation and fair and equitable treatment; acted as counsel to a sovereign wealth fund in a multimillion-dollar investment arbitration; represented an international institution in an ad-hoc arbitration under European Development Fund procedural rules; and handled several routine commercial arbitrations including energy-related disputes arising from gas supply and take-or-pay agreements.
Mitchell has also led teams in enforcement and set-aside proceedings across South Africa, Germany, and Lithuania, engaging complex questions under the Cape Town Convention and cross-border enforcement regimes.
In 2023, Mitchell was seconded to Trinity International LLP in London, where he worked on cross-border energy and infrastructure mandates, further refining his ability to bridge international best practices with the realities of emerging markets. He also completed the 2025 cohort of the flagship Africa Arbitration Academy, an intensive program that deepens expertise in international arbitration practice and advocacy, across the continent.
Beyond practice, Mitchell serves as Vice Chair of the International Trade Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association – Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL), where he contributes to dialogue on trade, investment, and legal reform in Africa. He grounds his work in the values of integrity, excellence, and service-advancing both the commercial interests of his clients and the broader development of fair, transparent, and sustainable legal systems.
Beyeeman Akyea – Ghana
Beyeeman Ofori-Atta Akyea is a Director and Senior Associate at Zoe, Akyea and Co., a long-established and highly regarded law firm based in Ghana. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a licensed insolvency practitioner, principally trained and admitted to practise in England and Wales, Ghana, and the State of New York.
Beyeeman offers exceptional, fearless, and first-class representation and regularly acts in complex, contentious, and multi-jurisdictional disputes, often involving investment and commercial arbitration under the major institutional arbitration rules.
His pre-eminent areas of expertise include Construction and Energy, Banking and Finance, White-Collar Crime, and Private Client Wealth Management for enterprising and established multinational companies, banks and financial institutions, state entities, regulators, non-profit organisations, foreign law firms, and high-profile individuals across a broad spectrum of industries.
He is a destrier in arbitration and litigation.
Dipna Gunnoo – Mauritius
Dipna Gunnoo is a fully bilingual (English and French) and dual-qualified lawyer specialized in international business law, international dispute resolution (international arbitration, mediation, negotiation) and commercial law.
She is also a certified (civil/commercial) mediator accredited by ADR ODR International. Dipna has worked on a wide range of high-profile cross-border matters, often relating to or within the African and European continents, in various sectors and areas.She also teaches international arbitration at the Mauritian campus of the Université Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas in its LL.M and LL. B programs.
She was appointed as the Regional Coordinator for Africa of Young ICCA in January 2022, and she has been a member of the LCIA African Users’ Council since 2024. In 2024, Dipna was selected by the Selection Committee of the Africa Arbitration Academy to participate in its three-week flagship training programme in London and has been a member of this organisation since then.
Mercy Okiro – Kenya
Mercy Okiro, FCIArb, brings over a decade of post-admission experience to her practice. She has represented and advised local and international clients, particularly in alternative dispute resolution, election disputes, corporate and ESG governance, legislative and policy reform, construction law and sports law. She has served as the sole arbitrator, mediator, and construction adjudicator in disputes across various industries. Mercy is a member of the panels of neutrals for several local and regional institutions. Mercy is an active member of the arbitration community, serving as an Advisory Board member of the Lagos Court of Arbitration (Young Arbitrators Network), as well as a Steering Committee Member of Equality for Representation in Arbitration, Africa.
Mercy is the current Chairperson of the board of the National Construction Authority in Kenya. She is the Convenor of the Law Society of Kenya’s Sports Disputes Tribunal Bar-Bench Committee and an adjunct faculty member of the Kenya School of Law and Strathmore University.
Mercy’s academic background includes a Master of Arts in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of Nairobi, a Master of Laws degree in International Commercial and Investment Arbitration from Queen Mary University of London, and an Oxford Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration. She also has professional certifications in corporate governance, trade law and policy, ESG governance, legal audits, arbitration, mediation, and sports dispute resolution.
In 2019, she was honoured as ‘The Young African Arbitration Practitioner of the Year 2019’; she was also listed as one of Africa’s Most Promising Young Arbitrators in 2020, 2021, and 2022 by the Association of Young Arbitrators. Additionally, she was named second runner-up as ADR Practitioner of the Year in 2021 by the Law Society of Kenya, Nairobi Branch. In 2023, she received the Jury’s Award for her contributions to ADR from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Kenya. The Women on Boards Network also feted her as the first runner-up in the category ‘Woman on Board Award’ in 2023. She has been named as one of Kenya’s top 100 arbitration practitioners in 2022, 2023, and 2024 by Lawyer Africa.
Herman Omiti – Kenya
Herman Omiti is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and Partner, Finance and Strategy and Head of the Dispute Resolution Department at the Firm of Ngeri, Omiti and Bush Advocates LLP. He holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) Degree from Moi University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law.
With keen interest in Dispute Resolution matters where he does mostly litigation, arbitration and mediation, Herman has extensive experience in handling disputes before the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court as well as other specialized Tribunals. As a way of giving back to society, Herman is from time to time engaged in pro bono briefs in partnership with Kituo Cha Sheria and the Court of Appeal Legal Aid Program.
His expertise extends beyond dispute resolution and has acted and advised various clients in different areas of law including Intellectual Property Law, Information, Communication and Technology Law, Real Estate Development and Construction Law; Electoral Law and Election related disputes; Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution, Media and Technology Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law; Comparative Law and Governance; Environmental and Land Law; Health Law; Tax Law; Procurement Law; Company Law; Insolvency Law; and Employment Law.
Adeleresimi Philips-Adeleye – Nigeria
Adeleresimi is a Senior Associate at Aluko and Oyebode, a leading full-service Nigerian law firm, where she is a core member of the Dispute Resolution Practice. She also plays an active role in the firm’s Construction and Infrastructure, and Energy and Natural Resources Practice Groups. Her practice focuses on arbitration, litigation, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution, representing both international and domestic clients in complex and high-value disputes across diverse sectors including oil and gas, infrastructure, construction, banking, fintech, employment, and human rights.
In addition to her disputes work, Adeleresimi advises on a wide range of construction and engineering contracts, including FIDIC, JCT, and bespoke EPC/EPCM agreements. Her experience spans multiple industries such as oil and gas, power, hospitality, and large-scale infrastructure. She supports corporates, contractors, and public institutions on contract drafting and negotiation, project execution, risk management, and dispute avoidance, providing end-to-end legal support across the project lifecycle.
She brings international experience through a secondment with the International Arbitration team at Hogan Lovells LLP, London, and has undertaken specialist training with the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC), Delos, and the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators. Adeleresimi contributes to thought leadership in the field of Construction Law and International Arbitration, including published contributions to the International Bar Association (IBA) and Lexology. In 2025, she was nominated as one of Nigeria’s 40 Under 40 Rising Stars by the ESQ Legal Awards.
In addition to serving as a YIAG Regional Representative for Africa, she currently volunteers as Senior Counsel at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre (LACIAC), where she supports initiatives promoting arbitration and ADR across the continent.
Asia Pacific
Sunita Advani – Singapore
Ms Sunita P. Advani is an arbitral assistant to Mr Michael Lee, an experienced English arbitrator member of Twenty Essex. She assists Mr Lee as tribunal secretary in his high-value and multi-jurisdictional commercial arbitrations across a wide variety of industries (e.g. energy, construction, M and A, joint ventures, etc.) and administered by the major arbitral institutions globally (such as the LCIA, ICC, SIAC and HKIAC).
Prior to this, Ms Advani practised international arbitration as an Associate at a leading international law firm in Singapore, and also worked as a Research Assistant at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment at Columbia Law School in New York City.
Ms Advani holds an LL.B. from the University of Nottingham, and an LL.M. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, where she was the Executive Editor of Berkeley Business Law Journal. She is admitted to practise in England and Wales, New York, Singapore and Ireland.
Ms Advani is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and a Member of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb). She is also the Founder and Chair of Singapore Very Young Arbitration Practitioners (SG VYAP).
Others
Others are; Ian Cheng from Hong Kong, Joyce Fong from Singapore, Gayatri Gogoi from Japan, Shreya Gupta from India, Eden Jardine from Australia, Jingjing Li from China, Raunaq Mathur from India, Shreya Aren from UK, Sergejs Dilevka from UAE, Robert Garden from France, Karolina Latasz from UK, Lorenzo Poggi from Italy, Edward Rensmann from Germany, José Ángel Sánchez Villegas from Spain, Anton Zakharov from Belarus, Orlando Jose Guterres Costa Junior from Brazil, Rodrigo Macin from Mexico, Salma ElNashar from Egypt Fulya Kurar from Turkey, Paige Burnham from Canada, and Elena Rizzo from USA.