NOVEMBER; LAGOS — Templars was presented with the Power & Natural Resources Team of the Year award at the 2015 Law Digest Africa Awards ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria on Friday 6 November, 2015

The team, led by Oghogho Akpata (Managing Partner), Chike Obianwu (Partner) and Olumide Akpata (Partner), was awarded for advising Azura Power West Africa Limited on the development (including the structuring, negotiating and financing) of a pioneering Independent Power Plant (IPP) in Edo State, Nigeria.

The project is considered a landmark one in Nigeria for a variety of reasons which include being the first of a new wave of power plants to be developed on a purely project finance basis, as well as the first IPP in the country to contain a power purchase agreement with the National bulk power purchaser and the first project of its kind to have the financial obligations of the Government counterparties fully backed by the World Bank Partial Risk Guarantees.

The awards ceremony was hosted by industry publication, Law Digest Africa to ‘honour excellence in the African legal services market by recognising the contributions of individual lawyers, law firms and in-house teams.’ The judging panel comprised of leading industry practitioners.

We are delighted to have been chosen from the impressive list of shortlisted firms, we thank our clients for continuing to come to us as the Firm of choice for their important transactions, thus allowing us to remain the premier Energy Law Firm in the country.”

Oghogho Akpata, Head of the Energy Practice and Managing Partner at Templars

The win tops off another successful year for the Firm advising local and international clients on the full spectrum of sectors and activities across Africa, including Energy, Banking and Finance, Dispute Resolution, Corporate & Commercial, and Tax. The Firm was awarded as the Law Firm of the Year (Nigeria) at a separate awards ceremony last month.