Cecilia Boniface Shiyo, Advocate

Cecilia Boniface Shiyo is an Advocate of the Court of Appeal and the High Court of Tanzania, a Chartered Arbitrator, and a Certified Director with extensive experience in corporate, commercial, and business law. She holds an LL. B (Hons) and has undertaken advanced professional training in arbitration, capital markets, international loan negotiations, privatization, and corporate governance, both locally and internationally. Cecilia is the Founder and Managing Partner of CBS Law Offices, where she leads the firm's corporate and business law practice, advising local and international clients on complex legal, regulatory, and commercial matters.

Cecilia has over four decades of professional experience spanning public service, private practice, and corporate advisory. Her work includes regulatory and transactional advisory for financial institutions, preparation of security and financing documentation, joint venture and shareholder agreements, IPO-related due diligence, company secretarial services, and capital markets transactions. She has undertaken significant assignments for the Government of Tanzania, the World Bank Group, and private sector clients, including advisory on public–private partnerships, legislative and constitutional review, arbitration frameworks, and local content policies in the mining and petroleum sectors.

Her experience also includes litigation in commercial, land, labor, and general matters, arbitration proceedings, adoption cases, and select criminal defense work. Cecilia previously served as a State Attorney, Group Legal Officer, Company Secretary, and Partner in leading law firms, and is an active member of several professional bodies, including the Tanganyika Law Society, where she has served as Vice President.