Official Announcement

Adili Group & Career Connections are pleased to announce a joint venture strategic partnership

Building and strengthening one of Africa’s largest integrated advisory and professional services firms

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23 June 2026 - Nairobi, Kenya - Adili Group (Adili) and Career Connections are pleased to announce a joint venture to continue building and strengthening one of Africa’s largest integrated advisory and professional services firms.This strategic partnership will deliver end-to-end solutions across talent, strategy, corporate advisory, risk and governance.

With over 150 years of combined experience, the joint venture aims to accelerate growth and expand solution delivery to more organisations, leaders, and teams, guided by a vision to extend transformational impact regionally and globally.

Adili is a leading pan-African corporate advisory firm with a presence in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, leveraging its regional footprint to serve clients seamlessly across borders and helping them navigate complexity. It is also an affiliate of ALN Kenya | Anjarwalla & Khanna, East Africa’s largest full-service law firm.

Career Connections, a leading people consulting firm in East Africa, complements this by supporting organisations in unlocking their people’s competitive advantage, enhancing effectiveness, and maximising the return on talent. It has served as a trusted advisor for 29 years.

This joint venture is built on trusted relationships, shared capabilities, and continuity, while expanding the range of services we offer together. For our clients, this means seamless, integrated solutions delivered without compromise on quality. Adili will continue to offer its leading corporate, risk, cyber, outsourcing, reputation management & crisis PR, and strategy advisory services, alongside fiduciary support. In parallel, Career Connections will continue to deliver its expert people solutions, including executive search and board services, leadership development, coaching solutions, talent assessments and advisory.

For our people, this strategic partnership creates broader opportunities across markets, disciplines, and career paths, supported by greater resources, a shared culture, and a unified vision for growth.

Career Connections will continue to operate under the leadership of Managing Director Zia Manji and Founder Madeleine Dunford. The firm’s senior management team remains fully in place, ensuring continuity in strategic direction, purpose, and the trusted relationships you rely on.

Together, we now operate as one integrated professional services firm, upholding the same values and quality, now with a broader reach. This joint venture unites our shared vision to shape Africa’s future and drive transformative impact as trusted, integrated advisors to the continent’s leading organisations.

150+

Years of combined experience

Presence in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda

Integrated professional services firm serving Africa

VOICES BEHIND THE VISION

“This joint venture stands firmly on a foundation of shared values and complementary strengths. Over my years leading Career Connections’ consulting practices, I have seen organisations confront challenges that demand integrated solutions across corporate advisory and people strategy.
‍
In Adili Group, we have found partners who share our commitment to integrity, professionalism and quality client service. This is a blend of global standards with deep local insights, a strong reputation built through resilience, and long-lasting legacy work that drives transformational impact. Together with ALN Kenya, Adili Group’s affiliate firm, this creates a uniquely integrated platform across Africa, combining legal, tax, advisory, and human capital expertise, enabling us to support clients not just in solving discrete challenges, but in delivering co-ordinated, end-to-end solutions across markets.

Importantly, what remains unchanged are the trusted relationships, people, quality, and responsiveness that define Career Connections.”

Zia Manji

Managing Director, Career Connections

VOICES BEHIND THE VISION

“Africa's most complex challenges demand firms that can walk alongside their clients across strategy, governance, talent, and legal advisory, all at once. That is the vision behind this joint venture.

By bringing together Adili's corporate advisory depth and Career Connections' people expertise, we are building something Africa genuinely needs: a fully integrated advisory and professional services firm that can meet organisations where they are and take them where they need to go. This is a deliberate act of building the kind of institution that shapes markets, develops leaders, and endures across generations.

Africa needs integrated advisors, not specialists in silos. This joint venture is our answer to that call.”

Karim Anjarwalla

Director, Adili Trustees and Senior Partner, ALN Kenya | Anjarwalla & Khanna

VOICES BEHIND THE VISION

“This joint venture represents a significant step in Adili’s growth journey as we work towards building Africa’s leading integrated advisory and professional services firm. A key driver of this partnership is the depth of expertise Career Connections brings in people strategy, leadership development, and talent solutions, capabilities that are increasingly critical for organisations navigating today’s complex and fast-evolving business environment.

Together with Adili’s strength in corporate advisory and transaction support, we are creating a stronger, integrated platform to support organisations across borders and deliver sustainable, long-term solutions.

This joint venture combines complementary capabilities that enhance our offering without compromising what makes each firm unique.”

Shital Shah

Chief Executive Officer, Adili Group

VOICES BEHIND THE VISION

“Over 29 years, the people and culture agenda has evolved to become central to organisational strategy. The leaders who head up these functions are critical members of their senior leadership teams. As a result, clients are increasingly investing in integrated talent solutions aligned with their business strategies.

This joint venture with Adili Group responds to that evolution. We are combining Career Connections' expertise in identifying and developing the best talent for its clients with Adili Group's corporate advisory and governance capabilities and, through its affiliate firm ALN Kenya, legal advisory services across the continent.

This creates what the regional market needs: a pan-African firm that delivers people and business solutions as interconnected drivers of organisational success. This is the professional services model Africa deserves.”

Madeleine Dunford

Founder, Career Connections

VOICES BEHIND THE VISION

“This joint venture represents a powerful strategic alignment at the highest level. Both Adili and Career Connections share a deep commitment to excellence, a respect for local expertise, and a shared ambition to transform the delivery of professional services across the globe.

By combining our strengths, we are creating a partnership capable of driving meaningful impact for organisations, leaders, and teams across theregion.”

Chris Diaz

Executive Chairman, Adili Group

End-to-end solutions, delivered together

Career Connections

Serving as a true partner to clients in driving their people strategy and needs.

CEO & C-Suite Search
Solutions

Board Solutions

Solutions

Talent Force (Professional Search)

Solutions

Leadership Development Solutions

Solutions

Talent Assessment Solutions

Solutions

Coaching Solutions & Programmes

Solutions

Adili Group

Providing knowledge, agility, efficiency, pan-African experience and diligence for diverse range of clients.

Adili Private Clients

Solutions

FAQs

We're proud to share this next chapter for Career Connections and Adili Group. Have questions about the joint venture? We've gathered the answers to what people are asking most.

For further information, please reach out to your usual contact or our communications team.

What has been announced?

Career Connections and Adili Group have entered a joint venture to continue building one of Africa's largest integrated advisory and professional services firms. Together, we now offer end-to-end solutions spanning people, leadership and talent alongside corporate, governance, risk and strategy advisory - with over 150 years of combined experience.

Who is Adili Group?

Adili is a leading pan-African corporate advisory firm with a presence in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, serving clients seamlessly across borders. It is also an affiliate of ALN Kenya | Anjarwalla & Khanna, East Africa's largest full-service law firm.

Why are the two firms coming together?

Clients increasingly need integrated advice - strategy, governance, risk and people considered together. By combining Adili's corporate advisory depth with Career Connections' people and leadership expertise, we can meet organisations where they are and support them more completely, as trusted, integrated advisors across Africa.

Will Career Connections still operate as Career Connections?

Yes. Career Connections continues to operate under the leadership of Managing Director Zia Manji and Founder Madeleine Dunford, with the senior management team fully in place. We remain a distinct entity, and our purpose, values and the relationships you rely on stay the same.

What does this mean for existing clients?

For our clients, the essentials stay the same - your team, your points of contact, and the quality and responsiveness you trust. What's new is range: we can now support you with integrated solutions across a wider set of needs, including more complex and cross-border work, all delivered without compromise on quality.

Will my main point of contact change?

You keep the same Career Connections team and the same relationship. Where your needs extend further, we can now bring in complementary expertise from across the joint venture - but your trusted relationship stays exactly where it is.

Will the services Career Connections offers change?

Career Connections continues to deliver its full range of people solutions - executive search and board services, leadership development, coaching solutions, talent advisory and assessments. Through the joint venture, clients can also access Adili's corporate, risk, cyber, outsourcing, reputation management & crisis PR, and strategy advisory services, alongside fiduciary support.

What does this means for our stakeholders?

The joint venture between Adili Group and Career Connections expands what we can do:

With Adili Group:

We have a genuine exchange - two firms learning from each other and sharing capability
We bring depth in people, leadership, talent corporate, risk, cyber, outsourcing, crisis & PR and strategy advisory
We seek structured cross-learning - sharing solutions, insight and best practice across our teams

We extend the value each side can offer and broadening our collective knowledge
We are a more complete, integrated service for the organisations we advise
We are guided by one shared ambition to shape Africa's future as trusted, integrated advisors

For our team:

A stronger platform to build a career on, as one integrated firm
Exposure to new solutions, disciplines and ways of working
Growth pathways both vertical and horizontal, in a broader professional services environment
A wider network to learn from and deeper investment in your development
Access to opportunities and clients that span the continent
The same purpose, culture and values stay firmly in place — we're widening the room to grow into

For our clients:

The same trusted team and the same quality - now with greater range
Integrated solutions under one roof: people, leadership and talent paired with corporate, governance, risk and strategy advisory
Seamless support for more complex and cross-border needs
Broader geographic reach, with no compromise on responsiveness or standards
Continuity of the relationships you already value
The combined strength of two premium brands working together in service of your needs

For our partners:

New segments, markets and ways of engaging
Access to a larger, more connected platform
Complementary capabilities across relationships, operations and knowledge - strengthening what each of us does well
A wider network and deeper shared knowledge from a larger combined team
The ability to take on bigger, broader engagements together across Africa
A trusted, longer-term partnership that grows in value as the combined platform scales

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Let's talk about what this unlocks for you

REACH OUT FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

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