The ILI-South African Centre for Excellence (ILI-SACE) has received a contract from the Oxford Policy Fellowship for designing and developing a renewables energy training course for senior lawyers from the African public sector. Two course design workshops will be held in September and October 2022 with a view towards learning from experts about what such a course should cover and creating a syllabus for the course, which will be offered in the coming years.
The scholarship to attend the workshops is open to lawyers and other experts from Ministries of Energy, Agriculture and Environment and Attorney-General Offices who have some background and experience in the field of renewable energy and who are likely to play a leading role in renewable energy policy and contracting in the future, including technical experts who are involved in and understand the complex issues – social, economic, legal and environmental – of transitioning to renewable sources of power.
The Oxford Policy Fellowship (OPF), a private not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, was established in 2015 with a start-up grant from Oxford Policy Management (OPM). The OPF is modelled on the well-known Fellowship Scheme developed and managed by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). OPF responds to demands from low and middle income country governments for legal expertise by providing them with lawyers who work for two years as local civil servants.
The ILI-SACE is a leading legal pan-African training and technical assistance centre based in South Africa. It is affiliated to the ILI-African Centre for Legal Excellence (https://iliacle.org) which has been providing training and technical assistance across the African continent for twenty five (25) years. The two centres are affiliated with the sixty six (66) year old International Law Institute (ILI) based in Washington, DC.
The principal objective of the two workshops is to develop a training course that will transfer a range of knowledge, skills, tools and tactics to senior public sector lawyers enabling them to manage effectively and efficiently the complex legal issues of transitioning to renewable sources of power. Ultimately, the program will develop Africa’s first cohort of legal experts to negotiate and effectively implement sustainable renewable energy programs on the African continent.
The workshops will bring together a group of approximately twenty (20) individuals, the majority of whom will be domiciled in sub Saharan Africa (SSA) and who will be closely involved in supporting SSA countries transition to renewable sources of power.
The course design workshops will be implemented over two (2) one (1)-week sessions in September 5-9, 2022 and October 10-14, 2022 hosted by the ILI-SACE at its headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa. The programme will cover the tuition, travel, accommodation, and modest per diem requirements to those selected to attend the training program. Leading global and regional experts will be involved in discussions and shaping the course syllabus. In the first workshop, an overview of the renewables energy infrastructure landscape will be provided (economic, financial, legal, governmental, etc.), and will shape a process for creating a draft curriculum for a renewables energy course. The second workshop (attended by the same group as the first) will complete the process of developing a permanent renewables energy course curriculum and training programme. Subsequently, and over the next four (4) to five (5) years, a training program will be rolled out across the African continent to increase the capacity of renewable energy expertise in the aforementioned fields.
This announcement is a request to senior government lawyers and government technical experts in the field of renewable energy with relevant backgrounds (described below) to submit a CV and a statement of interest in participating in the two course design workshops. Non-legal specialists who have a good knowledge of the substance of renewables, as well as agricultural specialists who can speak to issues such as fertilizers and related fossil fuel requirements are also encouraged to apply.
These workshops are limited to twenty (20) participants. Therefore, only the most qualified candidates will be considered. Applicants with five (5) years of relevant experience, a relevant rank in their organization, an advanced degree in renewable energy (or a related area), or a significant background in a related area are encouraged to apply.
Applicants are encouraged to submit their CVs and statements of interest to Khwezi Bovula, Program Coordinator at admin@ili-sace.org deadline for submitting statements of interest and CVs is July 19, 2022. Earlier submissions will be appreciated.