ALSF legal panel

The ALSF adopted on October 21, 2019, its revised Procurement Manual for the acquisition of consulting services required for the implementation of a project or other assignment financed, in part or in whole, by the ALSF. The revised Manual also aims to allow for the establishment of a Panel of preselected law firms for the provision of advisory services and the development of capacity building activities to the ALSF’s beneficiary countries. The establishment of the ALSF Legal Panel through Framework Agreements is intended to increase the efficiency of the operations of the Facility. By standardizing and pre-negotiating its engagement terms, the ALSF can manage more efficiently its project costs, better allocate its resources, develop synergies, reduce duplication and thus provide better assistance to beneficiary countries.

The Framework Agreements were signed with the law firms who are members of Panel A (law firms with international expertise), on October 16, 2019, following a competitive process that lasted several months.

Panel A is divided into five distinct lots, each of which covers expertise in a specific sector of intervention of the ALSF. The law firms constituting Panel A can only provide services for projects under the lot(s) for which they have been pre-selected.

The lots are the following:

Lot 1 - Sovereign debt management, litigation and arbitration
Lot 2 - Natural resources and extractives industries
Lot 3 - Energy / Power sector
Lot 4 - Investment agreements, and related commercial and business transactions
Lot 5 - PPPs and concession agreements

The lots are intended to cover almost all of the areas falling within the scope of the ALSF's mandate. In the event that the ALSF needs expertise not covered by any of the five lots, it can invite law firms that are members or not members of the ALSF Panel to submit proposals for this specific project. Procurement of consultancy services outside of the ALSF Panel only occurs in exceptional situations.

Code of Conduct of the Advisor

Under the Framework Agreements, the Code of Conduct of the Advisor, a document developed as part of the G7 CONNEX initiative to improve the advisory services provided to low-income countries, is applicable to the services rendered by the members of the Panel. This Code imposes high professional standards on legal counsel, including specific ethical obligations regarding corruption and conflicts of interest.

Specific Request for Proposals

For each specific mission, the ALSF will launch a downstream competition and issue a specific request for proposal to a minimum of three law firms depending on the lot they are part of, the language of the project, the legal system of the beneficiary country and a principle of rotation. In certain exceptional situations, the ALSF can directly award a project to a Panel law firm.

Duration of Membership for Panel A

The initial term of membership of a law firm in ALSF Panel A is set at 36 months from the signing of the Framework Agreement. The ALSF has the option to extend this period to a maximum of 12 additional months. A new global request for proposal will be issued a few months before the expiry of Panel A in effect.

Panel A

Law Firms

Allen & Overy LLP (London)
Baker Mckenzie (London)
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Montreal)
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (Paris)
Clyde & Co LLP (Nairobi)
Covington & Burling LLP (Washington D.C/Johannesburg)
De Gaulle Fleurance & Associés (Paris)
DLA Piper (Paris/Dar Es Salam)
ENSafrica (Johannesburg)
Gide Loyrette Nouel (Paris)
Mayer Brown LLP (London/Paris)
Pinsent Masons LLP (London)
Simmons & Simmons (Dubai/Paris)
Trinity International LLP (London/Paris)
White & Case LLP (London/Paris/ Johannesburg)

Panel B

The competitive process for the establishment of Panel B (law firms with local expertise in African jurisdictions and licensed to practice in those jurisdictions) will be launched in July 2022. Click on the following link to access the description of the framework procurement forecast for Panel B.
https://alsf.int/procurement/BD02. ALSF Panel B Re-Opening - Framework Procurement Notice - April 2023 (1).docx.docx