Alice Namuli Blazevic

Alice, a Partner at Katende, Ssempebwa & Company Advocates has 20 years’ experience in Corporate & Commercial Transactions, specializing in Technology, Media & Telecommunications law where she is one of East Africa’s leading authorities on Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies. 

She represents several Fintechs and Blockchain Technology based businesses which are reshaping the mode of doing business in Africa and Europe. She has pursued a course in Artificial Intelligence titled ‘Elements of AI’ from the University of Helsinki, Finland.

She also has experience in Projects and Infrastructure Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, PPP’s, and the Energy, Oil & Gas sector, cross border transactions where she has advised various large multinational ventures within Uganda, and across East, South, West Africa, Europe and North America.

The 2024 Edition of Chambers and Partners Global Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers noted that Alice receives particular recognition for her work in the TMT sector. She is based in Kampala and is also respected for her experience of mandates relating to cryptocurrency and blockchain.

The 2020 Edition of Chambers and Partners Global Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers labelled Alice as “one to watch,” with sources recognising her strengths in TMT work, particularly in the IT sector. One peer noted that she is “increasingly relied on by her firm as part of the next generation” of lawyers.

Leadership roles in the Tech industry 

• Alice is a Board Member of the Innovation Advisory Board of the Uganda National Social Security Fund External Innovation Program.
• Chairperson of the Uganda Legal Tech Network – 2018 to date
• Founder of the Legal Innovation Hub – Uganda: The Legal Innovation Hub is a co-working space for lawyers and innovators. The first legal tech incubator in Uganda with a focus on building better legal solutions for the consumers of legal services. The Hub helps to support, foster and develop solutions and techniques to improve legal services and the justice system.
• She organized the first Legal Tech Pitch/ Competition in Uganda under the theme “Law meets Tech” on the 6^th February, 2019 at the Innovation Village, Kampala, Uganda; where lawyers and technologists came together to form collaborations, innovating solutions with new technologies to enhance the legal the profession.
• Alice organized the first Legal Tech Conference in Uganda with the theme of Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and the law.
• She is the Country Representative and Host of the World Legal Summit (WLS). This is an initiative designed to bring together the legal and technology industries in worldwide collaboration toward a globally sustainable future. KATS and WLS will host a Legal Hackathon on 7^th to 9^th September where the legal industry will come together with technologists and doers for the rapid development of technologies that already are or could contribute to better global systems.  Further KATS and WLS will host the World Legal Summit Conference on 1^st August 2019. The topics for discussion will be: ‘Cybersecurity and Data Protection’, ‘Autonomous machines’, ‘Governing Artificial Intelligence.’
• Host of World Legal Summit on Technology and Global Legal Hackathon (Uganda).
• Alice has given public lectures and presented papers on AI, Blockchain and Crypto currencies at: the International Bar Association (IBA) Conferences , (Rome and Accra – 2018 ) East Africa International Arbitration Conference (Addis Ababa 2018 and Kigali 2017) East Africa Law Society Annual Law Conference, the International Internet Association Forum (Kampala), Nairobi University School of Law ( Kenya)  Strathmore University Law School( Kenya), Makerere University School of Law (Uganda) the Kampala Digitization Forum, Africa Tech Summit (Kigali), the Legal Tech Conference and Pitch (Kampala), the Commonwealth Lawyers Conference (Zambia), LexAfrica Business Forum , London  UK (Topic – Impact of Cyberlaw , Blockchain and AI on the African Continent), the Brussels briefing No.55 on Blockchain (Brussels, Belgium) and IBA Bar Leaders Conference, Budapest- Hungary.
• She has authored articles on AI and Blockchain for: The East African Law Magazine, Lex Africa Newsletter, Asia Mena In house Counsel Magazine, Kleros Journal, Chambers Global 2019, Hogan Lovells LLP Africa Journal and The Africa Law Business.

Other Professional Leadership roles 

• Alice served as the Vice President of the Uganda Law Society for two terms from 2016 – 2018.
• Alice also served as the Chairperson of the Female Lawyers Chapter of the Uganda Law Society from 2013 – 2016. During her tenure, she introduced categorized ‘Women in Law Awards’ aimed at recognizing women who have excelled in all fields of law.
• She was also the representative of the Central Region (Uganda) on the Executive Council of the Uganda Law Society.
• She also serves as the Uganda Country Leader for Legal Business Women for Africa (LABFA), a multi jurisdictional network of women transactional lawyers and corporate leaders in Africa and beyond. The network connects female corporate professionals, financial experts, lawyers, policy makers to mention but a few, to share knowledge, educate and mentor each other.
• She was appointed as an Executive Council Member of the Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowship Alumni Association of Uganda in July 2015.

Fellowships

• Alice was awarded a Commonwealth Fellowship to work at Hogan Lovells LLP in the United Kingdom in January, 2015.
• She is an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow, having attended The African Leadership Institute (AFLI)’s flagship program; the ‘Tutu Leadership Fellowship Program’ in Cape Town and Said Business School, Oxford University in April, 2018.

Service roles

• Alice is the Founder of Coffee With Alice, a mentorship program for aspiring lawyers, law students and young advocates aimed at bridging the gap between the theory learnt at law school and the challenges faced in legal practice. The program is also aimed at nurturing young leaders and teaching them how to give back.
• Alice is the founder of ‘I Read I innovate‘,a children’s Literacy Community based project aimed at teaching children in poor communities how to love reading.
• Alice was a Panel Judge for the Global Solar Community Innovation Awards 2017/2018, hosted by SEED, ADELPHI, Barefoot College and UN Women and UN Environment, in South Africa.
• She was also a Panel Judge for the Law Digest Awards 2017/ 2018 aimed at recognizing excellence of lawyers in legal practice on the African Continent, held in Nigeria.
• Alice is an Executive Producer for ‘Breaking Through‘, a documentary based on Florence Alice Lubega, the first Uganda Female MP in 1962. It features accomplished African Women to inspire the African girl child to pursue their dreams.

Professional Mentorship Programs in the Innovation Industry

• Panel Judge for the Global Solar Community Innovation Awards 2017/2018/2019 hosted by SEED, ADELPHI, Barefoot College and UN Women and UN Environment, in South Africa
• Mentor and Judge – The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law Uganda (HIIL).
• Mentor – XL Africa – Afrique Excelle is a unique post-accelerator program designed to support scalable technology ventures in the late seed or pre-series A stage, well-positioned for growth in their domestic market and for cross-border expansion and looking to raise between $250K and $5M. Afrique Excelle is a World Bank Group implemented by a consortium of VC4A, Suguba and SahelInnov.
• Founder Legal Innovation Hub

Local and International Speaking Engagements – 2017/2018

• Speaker at the LEXAfrica Business Forum, London UK. The topic was the ‘Impact of Cyberlaw, Blockchain and AI on the African Continent.’
• Speaker at the Brussels briefing No.55 on Blockchain (Brussels, Belgium) and the IBA Bar Leaders Conference , Budapest- Hungary.
• Speaker on two panels at the Africa Tech Summit in Kigali  from the 13^th to 15^th February, 2019: ‘The Future of Block chain – Opportunities and regulation for Africa’ and ‘Future Stage – Regulating for growth, providing the appropriate regulatory framework for Tech disruption in Africa’.
• Chief organiser and Speaker at the Legal Tech Conference and Pitch: Artificial Intelligence Block chain and the Law Kampala, Uganda, March 2019.
• Speaker at the LEXAfrica Annual General Meeting, March 2019, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. The topic was ‘The Impact of Artificial Intelligence, Block chain, Crypto currencies and the Law’.
• Facilitator of the the Legal Tech Workshop in Bamako, Mali under the Afrique Excelle a World Bank Project  on the 26th March, 2019
• Speaker at the Commonwealth Lawyers Conference in Livingstone, Zambia, April 2019: Crypto currencies and their place in commerce.
• Gave a public lecture at Nairobi University, Kenya  about Impact of AI and Block chain in January, 2018.
• Presented a paper on Arbitration or dispute resolution on the Block chain at the East Africa International Arbitration Conference in Addis Ababa 2018.
• Spoke at the International Bar Association conference in Rome on the LegalTech panel about Impact of Tech (AI and Block chain) on the legal profession.
• Spoke at the International Internet Association Forum Uganda Chapter conference on the Cybersecurity and Block chain panel on the 7^th November, 2018
• Gave a public lecture at Strathmore University Law School on the Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Block chain on the Legal Profession: A dispute resolution disquisition on the 9^th November, 2018.
• Spoke at the International Bar Association Regional Conference on Dispute Resolution. The topic was “Procedures and the rules of court in a digital world: what is new and what should African lawyers be doing?” on the 15^th November, 2018.
• Was a panelist on the “Managing the Revolution of Data” panel at the Kampala Digitization Forum on the 16^th November, 2018.
• East Africa International Arbitration Conference in Kigali 2017 about  AI and Block chain and it’s impact on the legal profession.
• Speaker at the East Africa Law Society Annual Conference about the impact of AI and Block chain on the legal profession in Kampala, 2017.

For detailed information regarding transactions handled by this lawyer, please email kats@kats.co.ug.

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