Andrea McKaiser-Walbrugh

Andrea specialises in project development and finance, and general bank finance. She has more than 8 years experience as a practicing attorney and more than 20 years working in the development finance legal environment, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.

She has been frequently noted as dynamic, proactive, collaborative and calm under pressure in challenging environments as well as is committed to delivering exceptional results as a result of a strong work ethic. Andrea is also actively involved in mentoring trainees and other junior staff and spearheading the knowledge development and resources initiatives.

Prior to joining CMS, she spent 8 years at White & Case, where she completed her articles and joined their Project Development and Finance team, based in Johannesburg. Her practice focuses primarily on development finance institutions, including IFC, DEG, OFID, and Finnfund.

During the 13 years she worked in IFC’s legal department, Andrea developed a keen interest in development finance and cross-border transactions.  The variation in transactions and jurisdictions motivated her to pursue a legal career focusing on project finance with a particular interest in sub-Saharan Africa. 

She has helped clients streamline legal workflows to achieve timely execution by implementing pro-active processes and identifying and addressing any potential issues as early as possible.  Given her background and in-depth experience working at DFI, Andrea is able to identify issues that will be of concern for such institutions and advise parties as to possible mitigants or work-arounds.