As African law firms race to digitize their operations, a new legal-tech platform, MatterMiner, is positioning itself as an affordable, locally attuned alternative to global practice management tools. Built for small and medium-sized firms, the cloud-based solution centralizes clients, matters, billing, documents, calendars, tasks, timekeeping, and trust accounting in a single workspace, while promising strong data security and transparent hosting on Amazon infrastructure. With an official launch slated for April 2026, its creators are betting that pricing in local currencies, deep localization for markets such as Ethiopia, and open APIs for integration with third-party tools will give African practitioners access to enterprise-grade digital capabilities at a fraction of the cost of established competitors like Clio or PracticePanther.
In this exclusive interview with Capital, Elsante Mnzava, Founder and CEO behind the MatterMiner platform, explains how the solution aims to become the default practice management system for emerging law firms across Africa, starting with high-potential Commonwealth markets before expanding to countries like Ethiopia. Excerpts:
Capital: Can you explain what MatterMiner is and how it functions as a comprehensive practice management platform for small and medium-sized law firms?
Elsante Mnzava: – MatterMiner is a practice management solution which essentially centralizes core elements of a firm’s daily operations in one platform. Such operations include, but are not limited to – managing details regarding clients and their matters, managing billing in relation to clients and their matters, organizing documents in relation to clients and their matters, handling calendar events (e.g., court dates) and tasks in relation to clients and their matters and so on.
Capital: What key features does MatterMiner offer to streamline day-to-day operations, such as case management, billing, calendaring, or document automation?
Elsante Mnzava: MatterMiner’s value proposition is centered on providing a solution that can manage all core elements of any firm’s operations. These are mentioned per the above.
Capital: Why did you choose April 2026 for the official launch, and how did the recent East Africa Law Society Conference in Addis Ababa serve as an awareness-building opportunity?
Elsante Mnzava: I had been thinking about developing a practice management platform since 2023. However, to be perfectly honest with you, we got distracted by other work. We finally began to focus on MatterMiner in late 2024 and completed the development of the prototypes of the solution in August 2025, and hence, April 2026 is really the earliest date that we can launch the solution. In the interim, we have began a campagin across several markets to create awareness for MatterMiner. To this end, we have sponsored or participated in legal-centric events in Nigeria and South Africa, and indeed more recently, the East Africa Law Society Conference here in Addis Ababa. Through these events, we are able to engage our core audience–lawyers–to educate them of MatterMiner and it’s value proposition.
Capital: Your initial focus is on Commonwealth countries like Nigeria and Kenya— what specific challenges in these markets does MatterMiner address for law firms?
Elsante Mnzava: This is a great question and our answer is simple: we provide a solution that is functionally robust (i.e., can address the need to centralize and automate all of their core operational functions) and secure (i.e., we shall provide full visibility into how data stored and processed) at an ultra-affordable rate. This may sound simplistic, but it’s a powerful value proposition.
Capital: How do you plan to adapt MatterMiner for secondary markets like Ghana, Zambia, and Uganda in the coming months?
Elsante Mnzava: All markets are essential to us. However, we are prioritizing Nigeria and Kenya purely because the volume of potential business is more palpable. As such, we envision targetting Ghana, Zambia, Uganda, Zimbabwe etc towars September, and importantly, we envision targetting non-Commonwealth countries by the close of the year, Ethiopia included.
Capital: Law firms are a relatively new concept in Ethiopia, legalized only 4-5 years ago. What opportunities do you see there, and how will the platform be customized, such as through Amharic support and affordable pricing?
Elsante Mnzava: Ethiopia is actually particulary enticing to us for several reasons. First, because law firms are comparatively new, this means we have a unique to influence how legal practioners utilize technology. I think it would be phenomenal to be able position MatterMiner as the de-facto practice management solution for bourgeoning legal practices in Ethiopia. Second, we see Ethiopia as a market that will sharpen our ability to localize a solution based on unique market needs (e.g., language). If we can localize in Ethiopia in this manner, then we feel that we are better positioned to pursue growth across non-English speaking countries. Last, the low cost of living in Ethiopia inherently means that to win in this country, we must have a model that allows us to charge ultra-competitive fees, but also make a profit. If we can make a profit in Ethiopia, we can certainly do so across Africa. Indeed, I can’t think of too many countries in Africa that have a lower cost of living than Ethiopia.
Capital: What sets MatterMiner apart from established practice management tools like PracticePanther, Clio, or Matter365, particularly for African legal markets?
Elsante Mnzava: Another very, very good question. Clio etc are really great solutions, but they are simply unaffordable for the vast majority of legal practices in Africa. Our argument is that we can provide equally robust functionalities at the fraction of the cost of a Clio and the rest. Not only that, in each market we operate in here in Africa, we shall charge in local currency. Clio and the rest simply can’t match this element of our value proposition. So if you are in Ethiopia and want to use Clio, most likely, you’ll not be able to pay in Birr, whereas if you want to use MatterMiner in Ethiopia, you’ll be able to pay in Birr.
Capital: How does MatterMiner incorporate features like client portals, time tracking, trust accounting, or workflow automation tailored to emerging African law practices?
Elsante Mnzava: Another great questions. MatterMiner will incorporate the following functionaly areas: 1) Dashboard; 2) Clients; 3) Matters; 4) Tasks; 5) Calendar; 6) Time; 7) Billing; 8) Trust Accounting; 9) Prospects; 10) Reports; 11) HR; and, 12) Settings. In short, it captures all core functional elements that most law firms would need to be covered in a fully functionally robust practice management solution.
Capital: Will the platform integrate with local payment systems, regional legal databases, or tools popular in Commonwealth Africa to enhance usability?
Elsante Mnzava: Another great question and the answer is an emphatic yes! Indeed, in today’s world, no software platform can operate in a silo; integration is critical. To this end, MatterMiner will have a robust set of open APIs that will allow it to be integrated into any third party solution a legal practice may be using.
Capital: Over the next few months, what strategies will you use to raise awareness across African markets ahead of the launch?
Elsante Mnzava: Through April 2026, we shall do two things. First, we shall attend all meaningfully material conferences attended by legal professionals in our primary markets (i.e., Nigeria and Kenya). Indeed, we did so last week in relation to the East Africa Law Society Annual Conference here in Addis Ababa. Second, we shall directly engage leading law firms in our core markets to alert them of MatterMiner’s launch and to schedule demonstration meetings starting May 2026.
Capital: What pricing model are you considering to make MatterMiner accessible to small firms, especially in price-sensitive markets like Ethiopia?
Elsante Mnzava: Another great question. Our pricing has two elements that I must emphasize. First, our pricing will always be in local currency—period. So here in Ethiopia, customers will pay in Birr. Second, our pricing will be based on the number of users a law firm has registered on MatterMiner. Suffice it to say that at the end of the day, our pricing will need to be ultra competitive.
Capital: How do you envision MatterMiner evolving beyond 2026, particularly as you expand to non-Commonwealth African countries?
Elsante Mnzava: Without a doubt, MatterMiner will heavily leverage AI to augment our customers’ use of MatterMiner. In addition, MatterMiner will be updated at least twice a year to incorporate evolving customer needs; indeed, this is critical.
Capital: What feedback have you received from law firms at events like the East Africa Law Society Conference, and how will it shape the final product?
Elsante Mnzava: The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Most prospects we have engaged are salivating at the prospect of having access to a solution like MatterMiner that is not only functionally rich, but also, ultra-affordable and charged in local currency.
Capital: Beyond operational efficiency, how does MatterMiner support compliance, data security, or growth for African lawyers in a digital era?
Elsante Mnzava: Indeed, data confidentiality and security are elements that we seek to harness to strongly differentiate MatterMinre from the rest. We shall do two things. First, we shall best in class hosting solutions from Amazon to host and process data. Second, we shall be very transparant about exact where data is stored and how it is being processed
