Edwin is a partner in our Projects, Energy & Infrastructure Department.

Edwin has vast experience in energy, natural resources, infrastructure transactions and M&A transactions in Kenya and the wider East Africa region.

Edwin is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and is a practicing Company Secretary.

Relevant Experience

Renewable energy & energy transition

• Advising Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) who are exploring opportunities to develop green hydrogen production facilities in Kenya.
• Advising Eni Energy, one of the seven “supermajor” oil companies, to advise on its bio-fuel project in Kenya.
• Advising Actis Energy, the sponsors of the 100 MW Kipeto wind project (the second largest wind project in Kenya).
• Advising Empower New Energy where we were appointed to provide legal advisory services in relation to its renewable power projects in East Africa under the USD 760,000 Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) grant awarded to Empower by the African Development Bank.
• Advising Frontier Energy on the development and financing of two captive solar systems, 6.9 MW in Athi River and 20.3 MW Mombasa, for Bamburi Cement (one of the largest electricity consumers in Kenya).
• Frontier Energy on the joint development of a 50 Megawatt Solar PV Plant and on the joint development of a 50MW Wind Farm in Malawi.
• Windlab Kenya on all aspects of the development of an 80MW wind-solar-storage project in Meru County.
• Advising Virunga Holdings on the development of 3 hydropower projects in Kenya.
• Advising Proto Energy Limited on steam supply agreements to be entered into with various C&I clients.
• Advising Econet Kenya Limited which is a joint venture between Distributed Power Africa and Électricité de France S.A. (a French multinational electric utility company commonly known as EDF) who we are providing various legal services relating to their C&I business in Kenya including the development of a captive solar power solution across six factory sites for a client, totaling 30 MW.
• Advising Thika Road Mall, a shopping mall on the development of the mall’s 0.9 MW solar system.
• Voltalia on its Kopere Solar Park 40 MW solar project in Kenya.
• Rumuruti Solar Generation Limited on various aspects of the development of the first solar project in the Laikipia area.
• A confidential client on the joint development of Solar PV Projects in Guinea totalling 80.2 MW and in Sierra Leone totalling 67.95 MW.

M&A

• Advising Proto Energy Limited in respect of the acquisition of the assets and business of Sea Gas Limited and Solutions East Africa Limited.
• Advising Globeleq Africa Limited (100% owned by CDC/BII) on the proposed acquisition of the 35MW Menengai geothermal power project from Quantum Power East.
• Advised Frontier Energy, a leading investor in the African renewable energy market, in connection with its proposed investment into the 50 MW Chania Wind Project.
• Advising the Capital Markets Authority on the review of laws relating to repos and derivatives in Kenya including proposing reforms and amendments to the relevant laws where applicable and preparing an opinion for Kenya on the enforcement of the ISDA Master Agreement and the GMRA. *
• Advised Essar Telecom Kenya Limited on the divestiture of ETKL’s licenses, subscribers, assets and business to Safaricom Limited and Airtel Networks Kenya Limited resulting in the consolidation of the mobile telecommunications market in Kenya from 4 to 3 players.*

Infrastructure & PPPs

• Advising Africa50 and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited on the first transmission PPP project in Kenya in collaboration with the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO).
• Advising the Standard Bank of South Africa Limited and Stanbic Bank Kenya Limited on the financing for the Lot 15 and Lot 18 PPP concessions to finance, build, operate and maintain several public roads in the Republic of Kenya.
• Advising a consortium comprising of Shandong Hi-Speed, Hass Infra Limited and GVR Infra Projects Limited on Lot 3 of the Kenya Roads Annuity Program.
• Advising Intex Construction Limited, in an affordable social housing project comprising 4,054 affordable housing units and associated infrastructure in Kibera – the largest informal settlement in Africa- procured by the Kenya Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
• Part of the team advising Tullow Kenya BV, Total and Africa Oil on the upstream development of Blocks 10BA, 10BB and 13T in Turkana County.
• Advised KCB Bank in connection with the development of a PPP for police accommodation and ancillary facilities for the Government of Kenya on a design, build, finance and maintenance basis of a total of 20,000 housing units and ancillary facilities. *
• Advised a consortium led by Kiewa Group in a joint venture with the Nairobi County Council for the redevelopment of the Old Ngara Estate within Nairobi City County at an approximate cost of USD 70 million. *
• Advised Kenya Airways Plc, in connection with the proposed concession of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport under a PPP arrangement that is to run for 30 years.*
• Advised the consortium comprising of Mota-Engil Engenharia e Construcao Africa, S.A, Orascom Construction, Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers Seed Partnership and Egis Projects S.A, in connection with their shortlisting by the Kenya National Highways Authority to bid for the widening, improvement and operation and maintenance of various sections of highway between Nairobi, Nakuru and Mau Summit through a PPP arrangement. *
• Advised the Government of Japan with respect to the development, implementation and installation of a medical and hazardous waste processing plant in Nairobi with the project being financed through a ‘’government-to-government’’ grant made available by the Government of Japan to the Government of Kenya. *
• Advised Bechtel, one of the world’s largest infrastructure and construction companies, in connection with the construction of the Nairobi – Mombasa Expressway. *

Environment, Climate Change, Natural Resources & Mining Experience

• Advising on the implementation and roll out of a multicountry agroforestry programme to restore the land and livelihoods of over two million vulnerable small-scale farming households and enhance the sequestration of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from changes in land management practices across six countries: Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Ethiopia.
• A confidential client on all aspects of a proposed mining project which involves extraction of niobium and rare earths.

Awards

• Legal 500 ranked Edwin as a Rising Star for three consecutive years (2021, to 2023).

‘Edwin Baru is up and coming and very knowledgeable. Fast turnaround of questions and queries, always maintaining high standards of advice.’

 – Legal 500, 2022

• Kenya: Proposed Public Procurement Capacity Building Levy Order
• Tanzania: Amendments to the PPP Act Herald a New ERA in PPP Development
• Kenya: The Water (Amendment) Bill, 2023: Harnessing private investment for financing water sector projects
• The role of grid scale battery energy storage systems in helping Kenya achieve its renewable energy goals
• Kenya: Energy sector update – Cabinet lifts the PPA Moratorium
• Kenya: Reinstatement of Environmental Impact Assessment and Related Fees
• Kenya: Beneficial Ownership Disclosure Requirements Expanded and Extended to Public Procurements and PPPS
• Kenya PPP Directorate to Become the Key Driver of PPP Projects in Kenya: A Detailed Look at Kenya’s New PPP Law
• Expansion of electricity access in Kenya: Proposed new regulations on mini-grids
• Kenya: The 2021-2030 least cost power development plan, introduction of the 2021 renewable energy auction policy and the 2021 FIT policy
• Kenya: Taskforce on the review of power purchase agreements
• Kenya: Proposed new regulations on midstream and downstream petroleum sector
• Defects Liability Regulations
• Key Changes Introduced by the Recently Published Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Regulations, 2020
• Bowmans and Simmons & Simmons collaborate on a Clean Energy tool