Pre-eminent African law firm Bowmans has appointed Robby Coelho, technology lawyer and award-winning entrepreneur, as a partner in its Cape Town office with effect from 1 January 2026.
This appointment comes hot on the heels of the appointment of Justin Ramages, another specialist in the technology sector, as a partner last month (December 2025).
Coelho specialises in technology and related commercial matters including digital services, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, data, privacy, intellectual property (IP) and fintech, together with the agreements that underpin the operations of modern organisations.
His extensive geographical experience (across Africa, the Middle East and Europe) combined with the range of roles that he has held in his career (from private practice to in-house counsel to entrepreneur) have given him a unique perspective on the technology sector.
Bowmans chairman and senior partner, Ezra Davids, says ‘Rapid development in technology is fundamentally impacting all businesses. Robby has a rare skill set that will complement that of our existing team and help us to build out our technology law capabilities while keeping pace with our clients’ increasing and changing requirements.’
Coelho began his career with a South African law firm where he became the partner leading the TMT and IP Practice and later the TMT Sector Group. He spent two years at Hewlett Packard as Legal Manager Africa and the Middle East. He also spent five years at the MTN Group where he was Executive: Group Legal primarily overseeing the digital services and fintech businesses, key procurement transactions and strategic projects across Africa and the Middle East. He also managed the Group’s IP portfolio.
In 2021, he moved to Luxembourg and became the founding CEO of Dalza, a web and mobile platform streamlining care coordination for neurodivergent children. The technology business, which he built from the ground up, has expanded to South Africa and across Europe. It was named 2025 Global Champion at the World Summit Awards and was joint winner of the Luxembourg Government Touch Base Programme.
Coelho has BA, LLB and LLM degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand.
He says, ‘I’m looking forward to working with the team at Bowmans to expand and transform the way we deliver tech-related legal services across the continent. This is the work I enjoy most: tackling complex challenges and finding better ways to help clients get the outcomes they need.’
