Shadiya Uzama

Education

Makerere University Bachelor of Laws (LLB)

Affiliations

Uganda Law Society

Shadiya is a Legal Associate at TASLAF Advocates specializing in the firm’s corporate, NGO, and social enterprise Practice. She possesses valuable experience, practical skill and knowledge in various multi-dimensional aspects of corporate law.

Shadiya offers full incorporation or business formation and set-up services to our clients, including any corporate or organization restructuring, merger or joint-venture.

She has further guided and supported our various non-profits and social enterprise clients, through the A-Z of setting up business and setting up with the right organizational design to assist them run smoothly and efficiently from a regulatory and compliance perspective.

Shadiya is able to work under pressure and ably lead the Non-Profit and NGO team. She has acquired unique experience in dealing with all non-profit employment issues such as negotiating, arranging, drafting and concluding all types of employment agreements or matters that may need urgent address, as she is familiar with the local systems, regulations and employment requirements.

Shadiya is also the Coordinator of our Pro Bono Practice focused on social enterprises and entrepreneurs. She has effectively advised and coordinated the firm’s external projects such as; NGO projects and trainings as well as collaborations with the firm’s pro bono partners.

She previously worked with leading law firms in Uganda where she gained leadership and proactive skills in leading teams to find and ably execute legal solutions to various legal problems, be it in commercial, civil or criminal law.

Transactional Experience

Detailed Legal & Transactional Experience

Corporate Advisory & Regulatory Compliance
Assisted in conducting a legal and regulatory assessment for Mercy Corps Uganda for the
set up of a humanitarian energy focused financing facility for Uganda. (2023)
Assisted in advising SIDI, a French social enterprise, on the set up and commencement of
financing activities in Uganda. (2023)
Assisted in supporting Small Foundation, a charitable foundation registered in Ireland, to
review and clarify any legal requirements to be complied with in making loans in Uganda
and ensure that Small Foundation comply with the requirements in the jurisdiction. (2023)
Assisted in advising and acting for the World Bank and the PPP Unit in Uganda. Participated
as Legal Advisor for a Grant Thornton-led Consortium contracted by the World Bank Group
and the government of Uganda (Ministry of Finance) to; assess the legal and institutional
framework for Public Private Partnership (PPP) originating at the Local Government level in
Uganda, develop Local Government specific (PPP) guidelines, facilitate PPP consultation
workshops with key government stakeholders and enhance the skills of local governments
in regards to PPPs. (2022 – 2023)
Acted for the Blockchain Association of Uganda (BAU) and provided technical support for
the development of their governance and operational structure in alignment with the best
practices of similar industry associations. (2022-2023)
Advised a recognized international philanthropic fund seeking a risk analysis on the
development of risk-informed guidelines for setting up and using fiscal sponsors based
within and outside Uganda. (2022-2023)
Acted for The Innovation Village and supported them with developing a Data Governance
Protocol. This support also involved a review of the existing TIV Data governance policy to
align it with Ugandan and International law pertaining to Data Protection and Privacy
together with MasterCard Incorporation and MasterCard Foundation’s data management
practices. (2022 – 2023)
Assisted in advising various multinational venture funds on setting up in Uganda and the
applicable registration and licensing requirements (such as registration with Uganda
Microfinance Regulatory Authority) for their operations. (2020 -2023)
Acted for Water for People Uganda on its pilot project on Strengthening Faecal Sludge
Management Services in Uganda. This support involved; the formation, registration and
licensing process of 12 newly formed pit emptying businesses that were identified in Kole
Town, Pallisa Town and Nansana Municipality, as well as developing sanitation by-laws for
Pallisa Town Council. Part of this work involved taking the town council technical team
through capacity building and drafting process of the by-laws for the eventual approval by
the district council. (2021-2022)
Acted for CivSource Africa and Opareta Limited in connection with their organisation
restructuring, and various compliance matters relating to business expansion. (2022)
Assisted in advising iGravity, a Swiss stock corporation providing financial advisory services
to investors on the opportunities, limitations, and risk management for foreign investors in
Uganda.(2021)
Assisted in advising Kiva Capital Management LLC (KCM), on the potential financing of
multiple financial service providers in Uganda by a Delaware-registered fund, to be
established by KCM.
Assisted in advising a foreign Japanese entity in respect to UNBS product standard and
quality for foreign household product manufacturers in Uganda. (2021-2022)
Advised corporate entities on their business formation, incorporation status and registration
with the necessary legal authorities.
Advised leading NGOs such as Mercy Corps Uganda, American Bar Association, Jhpiego,
Agripreneurship Alliance, Human Trafficking Institute, Church World Service, , Johanniter,
Unfall Hilfe among others in Uganda on the regulatory and compliance aspects under the
Non-Governmental Organizations regime in Uganda including but not limited to registration
with the NGO Bureau, renewal of NGO permits, NGO Validation, filing of annual returns and
procuring recommendation letters on behalf of NGOs for their Expatriates.
Assisted in acting for several local and international NGOs in their restructuring and review
of major organisation policies in line with the Ugandan law.
Assisted in acting for several local and international clients on trademarks, copyrights and
other intellectual property rights and registrations in Uganda
Acted for various expatriate clients with regards to obtaining different types of work permits.
Trained leading NGO’s such as AVSI Foundation, Forgotten Children Worldwide, Human
Trafficking Institute, American Bar Association among others on the importance of
registration and filing of the annual compliance report with the Financial Intelligence
Authority.
Advised and registered leading Companies and NGO’s such as HEKS/EPER among others
with the Personal Data Protection Office.
Corporate Finance
Assisted in performing due-diligences on debt and equity investment on targeted enterprises
on behalf of Funds/Investment companies such as Civ Fund (Civ Source Africa), BiD
Network, IUNGO Capital and Yunus Social Business Foundation.
Assisted in acting for Inua Impact Fund Limited as Investee Company with respect to the
sale and subscription of shares in Inua Fund Limited, rendering company secretarial
services and incidental matters.
Assisted in acting for KIVA Capital Management LLC as lender in respect of the UGX
3,590,805,000 loan facility (approx. US$ 1,000,000) made available to UGAFODE
Microfinance as borrower (December 2021)
Assisted in acting for HEKS/EPER as lender in respect of a loan facility made available to
Patasente Limited, and a US$ 400,000 loan facility made available to Landmark Millers
Limited.
Assisted in acting for Musana Community Development Organization Ltd as borrower in
respect of a US$ 3,000,000 loan facility made available to Musana Community Development
Organisation Ltd.
Social Enterprise Support
Co-ordinated and executed structured training and workshops on the legal and regulatory
landscape for Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs) in Uganda in partnership with
organisations such as; Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ),
Open Capital Advisors (OCA), Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE),
Oxfam International, Capital Solutions Limited, Challenges Uganda, The Innovation Village
Uganda, among others.
Co-ordinated the provision of legal advisory and tax support on a continuous basis to over
100,000 start-ups as part of a partnership with The Innovation Village.
Advised and trained over 100 Women led social enterprises supported by Capital Solutions
on their legal and tax compliance requirements.
Trained over 50 Small and Medium Enterprises in partnership with GIZ Creating
Perspectives Business for Development (East Africa) focused on addressing standard
internal and external legal and tax challenges for Ugandan SMEs in the manufacturing
sector.
Co-ordinated and acted for six (6) export-oriented companies for 6 months in relation to
Trade and Export Readiness with regards the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
funded by GIZ Uganda.
Advising and training over 31 Small and Medium Enterprises supported by Challenges
Group on their legal and tax compliance requirements.
Provided legal and tax support trainings to various social enterprises on a pro bono basis in
partnership with major incubators in Uganda.
Employment Advisory
Acted for various Companies such as CivFund, Urban Refugees etc. and supported them in
drafting key employment and Human Resource policies.
Assisted in reviewing contracts and policies, such as employment contracts, human
resource manuals, sexual harassment policies, volunteer contracts, probation contracts,
casual/temporary staff contracts and consultancy contracts and tenancy agreements for
entities such as Cycle Connect, Village energy Limited, Okoa Refuge, Church World
Service, Forgotten Children Worldwide Inc, among others.
Assisted in providing advice on key employment questions such as probationary period,
disciplinary hearings, dismissal and termination, severance pay, to mention but a few.