Gowling WLG's global Energy team awarded place on $900million Power Africa IDIQ contract

27 March 2018

Gowling WLG's global energy team has been awarded a place on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Power Africa Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity Contract (PA-IDIQ). The Multiple Award IDIQ has an overall shared ceiling price of $900million over its life.

The international law firm's energy team is the exclusive legal contractor in a consortium led by global consultant and service provider Nexant, which will serve as the prime contractor for the Power Africa IDIQ. The highly qualified team will assist USAID in delivering the overarching goal of Power Africa: to enable electricity access throughout Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by adding 30,000 megawatts (MWs) of new and cleaner power generation and 60 million new electricity connections.

The Power Africa program brings together technical, financial, policy, legal and development experts from both private and public sectors who together work to leverage investment in electricity production and delivery in SSA, to encourage economic growth and improved quality of life throughout the region.

The contract is expected to run for seven years and work will take place within 49 jurisdictions in SSA. The global Gowling WLG team was led by partners Jonathan Brufal in the UK and Thomas J. Timmins in Canada.

Jonathan Brufal said: "The Power Africa project will transform SSA, empowering people and businesses across the continent who currently have limited access to electricity. We're proud to have been appointed to this contract and look forward to using our extensive industry knowledge and in-depth understanding of the unique legal, regulatory, commercial and cultural landscape across Africa to work alongside the Nexant team to deliver these projects."

Thomas Timmins said: "At Gowling WLG, we have gained strong experience across all aspects of energy system operations, having advised governments, agencies, project developers and financiers on policies and projects in many jurisdictions world-wide. We very much look forward to bringing our experience to bear in service to energy system stakeholders across Africa."

Nexant's Senior VP for Government Services, Matthew S. Mendis, said: "Nexant is pleased to have the opportunity to channel its development and power sector expertise and long standing experience on the African continent towards increasing the production and access to power to help improve the quality of lives and raise incomes of millions throughout SSA who have little or no access to electricity.

"Nexant's presence for over a decade in the African power sector provides it with a unique advantage of intimately knowing the landscape, challenges and proven solutions to effectively assist USAID with its Power Africa goals. It brings a proven track record in SSA power development for driving policy, legal, regulatory and financial transactions to close."

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