The workshop followed recommendations issued by African energy ministers at the 5th Desert to Power Ministerial Meeting, calling for the dissemination and application of the Joint IPP Protocol across member countries. The objective is to support the development of competitive and bankable solar projects under the Desert to Power Initiative.
The training aimed to strengthen participants' understanding and practical use of the Joint IPP Protocol toolkit. Sessions focused on contract models, risk management approaches, and the effective application of standardised documentation to accelerate project preparation and negotiations.
Participants included Desert to Power focal points from Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Chad, as well as legal experts involved in contract negotiations, representatives of energy ministries, public-private partnership project managers, and officials from national electricity utilities.
Mauritania, the first country to implement the Joint IPP Protocol for its inaugural IPP project with IWA Green Energy, shared its experience during the workshop. The country highlighted how the toolkit significantly reduced negotiation timelines and streamlined the project cycle, enabling a transition from negotiations to contract signing and financial close in a record ten months, from November 2024 to September 2025. This contributes directly to Mauritania's Desert to Power and Mission 300 objectives.
"It would not have been possible to achieve financial close without the support provided by the Bank through the Desert to Power Initiative and the ALSF," said Mamadou Kane, Desert to Power focal point and Mission 300 coordinator for Mauritania. "Thanks to the Joint IPP Protocol, this first private sector power project became a reality."
Opening the workshop, Daniel Schroth, Director of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at the African Development Bank, reinforced Mauritania's testimony, noting that the IWA Green Energy project had recently been presented at the Africa Investment Forum Market Days in Rabat, Morocco, where it attracted strong investor interest.
"With Desert to Power and Mission 300, we have a unique opportunity to electrify 300 million people by 2030 and make the Sahel a model for sustainable energy transition," Schroth said.
The workshop combined plenary discussions with practical exercises, including role-playing negotiation sessions. These activities consolidated the first phase of work on the Joint Protocol, during which national representatives were trained, and contract templates were examined by participants.
Aligned with international best practices, the Joint IPP Protocol is designed to reduce negotiation timelines, simplify administrative processes, improve project bankability, strengthen governments' negotiating positions, and create a conducive environment for long-term private investment.
Olivier Pognon, Director of the African Legal Support Facility, lauded participants for their engagement. "This project goes far beyond the scope of a simple capacity-building workshop," he said. "It represents a key moment in consolidating a shared vision for the Sahel--one grounded in harmonised approaches, stronger institutional capacity, and a solid foundation for solar projects developed by independent power producers."
Participants also highlighted the practical value of the training. "The workshop improved our understanding of the Joint IPP Protocol and helped identify concrete solutions to accelerate solar project implementation," said Rozzi Kellemi Brahim, Director of Legal Affairs and Litigation at Chad's Ministry of Energy. He noted that the training complemented ongoing capacity-building efforts on effective tendering.
The workshop aligns with a broader nine-month training programme on Effective Tendering for Renewable Energy Projects, implemented by the World Bank under its Scaling Solar and Renewable Market Initiative (SRMI), in collaboration with the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy.
The Desert to Power Initiative is one of the flagship initiatives led by the African Development Bank to harness the vast solar energy potential of 11 countries in the Sahel: Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, and Chad. The Desert to Power Initiative and Mission 300 aim to increase access to electricity for populations in the Bank Group's regional member countries and are complementary.
About the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF): is an international organisation that provides advice to African governments on structuring and negotiating complex commercial transactions relating to extractive activities and natural resources, infrastructure, public-private partnerships, electricity, and sovereign debt sectors, to ensure that African countries engage in fair and equitable transactions that contribute to their sustainable development. Other activities include capacity building and knowledge management.
