The African Legal Support Facility has provided advisory services support to the Government of Rwanda for the negotiation of its deal with Symbion Power to develop a $200-million-dollar energy plant by Lake Kivu in Rwanda, signed on March 29, 2019.

Hosted by the African Development Bank Group, the ALSF is an international organisation dedicated to funding legal advice and technical assistance to African countries in their negotiation of complex commercial transactions, creditor litigation and other related sovereign transactions. The ALSF also develops and proposes innovative tools for capacity building and knowledge management.

The energy plant is expected to generate an additional 56MW of electricity for Rwanda, marking a significant step in Rwanda’s efforts to increase its installed power generation capacity by 291MW to 512MW by 2024.

The plant will extract methane gas from the production area at Lake Kivu and use it to produce electricity.

The Symbion Power project is part of a larger ALSF project providing assistance to Rwanda’s Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA), including support for the Nyabarongo II project, which will have a 43.5MW generation capacity and will increase overall installed capacity by 11.5 per cent.

"The ALSF’s support to Rwanda, through the MININFRA project, helps to ensure that Rwandans have access to energy, promoting sustainable development and inclusive growth. The project also ensures that the development occurs on the best possible terms for Rwanda,” said ALSF legal counsel and project task manager, Ms. Nchimunya Ndulo.

Agencies.