Lusungu is founder and first Managing Partner of Ritz Attorneys at Law [the Firm], the largest law firm in Malawi. He spearheaded rapid growth of the Firm achieving rare international exposure, high quality legal expertise in corporate and commercial law and enabled its lawyers acquire technical expertise in their areas of specialization.
Lusungu is the current Chairperson of the Firm’s Practice Management Committee and leads its Banking and Finance Practice. He advises on and litigates in matters concerning the regulatory environment, competition, tax, mergers and acquisitions, insolvency and other forms of business reorganization where these criss-cross [with] banking, finance and fintech.
Lusungu graduated from the University of Malawi [2008], attended Harvard Law School – Executive Education Program [2018] and qualified with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators [2019]. He has 14 years post-admission experience practicing law in the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal, the High Court of Malawi and all courts subordinate thereto.
He specializes in assisting clients to navigate turbulences resulting from the ever-evolving world of banking and finance especially in inter-jurisdictional transactions requiring innovative approaches to problem-solving. He assists clients to fully exploit opportunities and to proactively manage risks. He possesses a combination of specialist legal skills befitting the nuances of the banking, finance and fintech legal services market. He has unique ability to advise on matters converging at the confluence of law, technology, banking and finance and the economics thereof.
Lusungu regularly leads specialist teams across the Firm (in areas such as tax, corporate commercial, employment, and insolvency, business rescue and debt recovery where these intersect with banking and finance). He frequently publishes with highly rated international banking and finance think-tanks in energy, international trade, oil and gas, securitization, project finance and public private partnership transactions.
Lusungu’s major strength is his practical knowledge in negotiating/structuring and drafting multifarious instruments relating to trade finance facilities including but not limited to confirmation of letters of letters of credit and standby letters of credit; direct advances to borrowers and borrowers’ suppliers for procurement of production of inputs; discounting of bills of exchanges and trade related promissory notes; packing credit/pre and post shipment finance and guarantees; buyer and supplier credit support facilities; factoring and supply chain financing; export credit guarantees; export contract availability guarantees; contracting-related guarantees [including retention guarantees]; specialized guarantees [including Intra-African Investment guarantees; inter-state transit guarantees; country risk guarantees; guarantees of government commitment to project promoters; market availability guarantees ie traffic guarantees; and capital market guarantees].
In terms of direct import and export trade finance services, Lusungu has working knowledge of import/export transactions between two or more African countries, trade-related remittances by a firm/corporate resident in one country to a firm/corporate of another country, import letters of credit and export letters of credit, short term trade loans, issuance of irrevocable reimbursement undertakings, documentary collections from intra African trade foreign currency and local payments in Africa among others.
Lusungu’s practical knowledge and experience extends to all manner of structured trade facets including asset-based finance facilities and trade advisory services [ie trade information advisory services, market entry/penetration strategy advisory services and corporate debt management/restructuring services]. He has represented, acted for and advised over 68% of all the banks in Malawi.
