Track Record

Our Track Record

Selected engagements delivered by Verif and its team, working alongside its affiliate PUNUKA Attorneys & Solicitors:

  1. Commissioned by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Nigerian Copyright Commission to carry out a diagnostic study of the governance of collective management of intellectual property rights and payment of royalties in Nigeria.
  2. Worked for the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy (FMACTCE) on a review of the impact of Artificial Intelligence on Nigeria's creative industries, in conjunction with Google Nigeria, and prepared on the Ministry's behalf a policy position on AI for the creative industries.
  3. Advising the Ministry on Nigeria's copyright reform agenda, with the newly gazetted Copyright Act as the first product of this work, and with ongoing workstreams on new Collective Management Organisation (CMO) regulations and further updates to Nigeria's copyright laws.
  4. Conducted legal and sectoral risk analysis of financing submissions under Afreximbank's continental film fund (see below).

  1. Provided support to the Technical Working Group set up by the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning to develop the medium-to-long-term national plans for Nigeria's Culture, Creative, Hospitality and Tourism industries – with our Practice lead serving as de facto secretary of the Group. The resulting development plans were approved and adopted by the Federal Executive Council.
  2. Advised Afreximbank, through a PwC-led consortium, on the structuring and disbursement of its US$500 million Film Financing Facility and its subsequent restructuring into a US$1 billion debt-pool fund financing the full film ecosystem – from production to infrastructure such as sound stages and cinemas – across the African film industry. Developed, alongside consortium members, the framework under which the bank administers the fund, including IP-based lending and securitisation mechanisms, and trained the bank on chain of title and IP risk.
  3. Currently advising the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) on the review of its enabling law and the restructuring of the agency to improve its effectiveness in supporting the creative and cultural industries, including operationalising the National Endowment Fund.
  4. Prepared a regulatory framework proposal for the film and television industry for the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC).
  5. Part of a consortium led by the African Business Angel Network (ABAN) launching the African Sports & Creative Early Stage Investor Network, dedicated to mobilising angel capital for high-growth startups in the CCHT sectors in Africa.
  6. Structured and advised on creative sector financing vehicles including a US$13 million debt and equity raise for a slate of motion pictures, a ₦500 million mixed debt/equity private equity fund for film, and the first equity-subscription financing structure for the creation, promotion and marketing of music recordings in Nigeria.

  1. Conducted due diligence checks on over 10,000 pieces of short-form content for an international telecommunications company prior to upload on its digital platform, significantly mitigating its exposure to third-party infringement claims.
  2. Prepared template contracts for the company's digital content business and a content acquisition checklist designed to minimise copyright infringement, alongside training its personnel on intellectual property rights in digital content services.
  3. Trained a development finance institution on chain of title and spotting loopholes in IP rights, and other peculiarities of lending to the film industry.