The recently published “Understanding Power Purchase Agreements” handbook was highlighted as a major achievement of President Obama’s Power Africa initiative during the Power Africa Private Sector Partners Meeting on January 28 in Washington, DC. 

Power Africa is an initiative to increase the number of people with access to power in sub-Saharan Africa.  At the Private Sector Partners Meeting, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah and Power Africa Coordinator Andy Herscowitz noted the important role the handbook will play in promoting power projects.

The handbook — produced through a partnership between the Office of General Counsel’s Commercial Law Development Program and the African Legal Support Facility — features over a dozen leading power project contract experts from the US Government, African Governments, banks, development finance institutions, developers and law firms. The best practices guide is intended to provide a common understanding of the most important terms in Power Purchase Agreements, which are at the core of most privately-financed power projects. The book is available for download on the Commercial Law Development Program’s website.