Legal Consultant for the Preparation of a Feasibility Study for Chipindo Transmission Line Project in Angola (M / W)

Expertise France is the public agency for designing and implementing international technical cooperation projects. The agency operates around four key priorities :

• democratic, economic, and financial governance ;
• peace, stability, and security ;
• climate, agriculture, and sustainable development ;
• health and human development ;

In these areas, Expertise France conducts capacity-building initiatives and manages project implementation, leveraging technical expertise and acting as a project coordinator. This involves combining public sector expertise with private sector skills to drive impactful results.

As part of the EU-funded AGEPI project ( Support for Public Finance Management, Public Enterprises, PPPs and Financial Inclusion) in Angola , Expertise France is recruiting a short-term Legal Expert to conduct a feasibility study for the Chipindo transmission line project.

Objectives of the services

Overall objective :

The  primary objective is to move the Chipindo transmission line PPP project forward by delivering a detailed feasibility study, building on the favourable conclusions reached in the pre-feasibility assessment.

Specific objectives :

Expertise France intends to hire Legal Consultant at short notice to conduct comprehensive legal analysis at the feasibility study level.

The Consultant will collaborate closely with :

The project's Team leader is responsible for ensuring consistency and quality across all expert activities and deliverables. These terms of reference only specify the scope of work for the legal component of the feasibility study.

Scope of services, tasks (components) and expected deliverables

The Feasibility Study phase represents the comprehensive project preparation stage, building upon and completing the review of data obtained during the Pre-feasibility Study (2024, TaylorWessing, INESC Brasil & Infra Gestion).

At this stage, the consulting firm with other specialized experts must evaluate and determine the most appropriate technical, economic, financial, environmental, and social solutions for the transmission project.

TASK 1 : collect data, information, maps etc.

The Consultant shall collect and review all data required to implement this assignment through comprehensive review of existing reports, studies, master plans, and acquisition of additional data where necessary to execute subsequent tasks. The DNPPP will facilitate engagements with other domestic stakeholders as required.

In the absence of certain data, experts should use their assessment to find surrogate data, in accordance with internationally recognized practice and experience, and provide evidence to support their choice

TASK 2 : Detailed feasibility study

Legal texts impacting the project

The Legal Consultant will have to analyze all relevant texts likely to be applicable or likely to impact the project at national and regional level (PPP, public procurement and public contracts framework; electricity and mining sector laws; Tax legislation and investment incentives; Land and property legislation; Environmental legislation, etc.).

The Legal Consultant will have to identify whether specific regulations need to be proclaimed for the implementation of the project and, if so, prepare these texts.

The pre-feasibility study highlighted the following main aspect :

Land Acquisition

The Legal Consultant must identify all legal requirements and procedures for land access and expropriation, including applicable laws and regulations, procedural steps for voluntary acquisition and compulsory expropriation.

The consultant must draft template agreements for land acquisition and compensation (e.g., model negotiation settlements).

The consultant must advise RNT on its legal obligations throughout the land acquisition process, including mandatory compliance requirements, documentation and record-keeping obligations.

T he Legal Consultant will analyze to what extent RNT is legally ready in the preparation and launch of the PPP project and to verify that the project complies with the regulations of public companies.

The pre-feasibility study highlighted the following main aspect :

RNT Sub-Concession Authorization : The Legal Consultant must prepare and submit formal applications to obtain state authorization for RNT to sub-concede portions of its transmission mandate to the private concessionaire. This includes drafting legal justifications, preparing supporting documentation, and coordinating with relevant ministries and regulatory bodies throughout the approval process.

T he Legal Consultant will analyze whether the private partner should create a specific project company and under what legal form. Will the public person participate in the capital of the SPV?

The Legal Consultant must conduct together with the Economist and Financial Expert an analysis of the cost / benefit balance of the PPP option versus classic public procurement in order to confirm that the public services concession model proposed by the pre-feasibility study is the most appropriate for this project.

The Legal Consultant must complete the VfM study to be carried out by the Economist expert.

Commercial Risk Transfer Mechanisms

The consultant must structure appropriate commercial risk transfer mechanisms to the private concessionaire, including direct contractual liability frameworks, penalty mechanisms for performance failures, revenue guarantees or shortfall mechanisms, and force majeure provisions that appropriately allocate risks between public and private sectors.

Tariff and Revenue Structure Legal Framework

The consultant must establish the legal framework for electricity tariff determination and revenue collection, including mechanisms for negotiated tariffs with mining companies, regulated tariffs for municipal consumers, and provisions for periodic tariff reviews and adjustments.

Risk Analysis and Allocation

The Legal Consultant must proceed to transversal risk assessment and propose concrete measures to eliminate or mitigate them. A risk allocation matrix will summarize key findings of this analysis and serve as precontractual framework for risk transfer and allocation between the private and the public parties.

The minimum requirements for a risk matrix are set out in the PPP Law 11 / 19 and in the PPP manual of the DNPPP.

Contract Governance and Dispute Resolution

Legal Consultant must establish comprehensive governance mechanisms for contract administration including creation of joint steering committees, performance monitoring frameworks, reporting requirements, and decision-making processes for contract modifications, terminations or disputes.

TASK 3 : Market sounding

The Consultant shall support the identification of private companies interested in the project. The Consultant will participate, under the supervision of the Financial Expert and support of Technical and E&S Experts, to organize the Market sounding meeting prior to the launching of the procurement phase.

The market sounding meeting will determine whether the project will generate sufficient interest from the private sector to attract serious and high-quality proposals and will also verify that the legal solution proposed in the feasibility study is appropriate.

TASK 4 : Public consultations

The Consultant shall support the organization of public consultations under the supervision of the E&S Experts. The consultant will take into account relevant observations made by users and stakeholders which may involve legal adjustments (observations on tariffs, expropriation and land use).

TASK 5 : Training

Training is part of the services to be provided by the Legal Consultant in Portuguese. The training shall be delivered through practical knowledge transfer sessions conducted on-site during the final field mission in Luanda. Its objectives are

Task 6 : Procurement phase preparation

The Consultant must prepare guidelines for the Procurement phase including :

Responsibilities of the legal expert :

The main responsibilities of the legal expert are highlighted, but not limited to, as follows :

Legal Analysis tasks

Other tasks

Funding context

Angola is the seventh largest country in Africa, with a population that is expected to double over the next two decades. Having overcome a tumultuous recent history, marked by the end of colonization and civil war at the end of the 20th century, the country is now on a path to political stability.

Despite its position as Africa's fifth largest economy, Angola faces heavy dependence on oil exports, leading to economic vulnerabilities. Recent reforms and economic consolidation measures have stimulated a recovery in growth, but diversification efforts are imperative to reduce oil dependence and address rising inequalities. This goes hand in hand with the need to ensure inclusive growth, with better redistribution of oil industry revenues and significant investment in human capital development and higher education to foster a diversified and robust economy. The country is highly exposed to challenges related to climate stress, environmental preservation and the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Since September 2022, Expertise France has been supporting the Angolan government with activities related to economic and financial governance. The agency has developed technical assistance programs that support the achievement of disbursement indicators for a public policy loan signed between AFD and the Angolan government in the following four areas : i) Public finance management; ii) Public enterprise governance; iii) Public-private partnerships; iv) Financial system inclusiveness.

The European Union has decided to support the reform projects undertaken by the Angolan government by entrusting Expertise France with the implementation of new technical assistance on the same four themes. The AGEPI project - Support for Public Finance Management, Public Enterprises, PPPs and Financial Inclusion - is therefore continuing the work undertaken with AFD funding.

The National Directorate for Public-Private Partnerships (DNPPP) is a key player in PPP governance, attached to the Ministry of Planning. Since 2022, experts mobilised by EF have supported the DNPPP through the following missions :

a matrix for identifying, rating and prioritizing potential PPP projects,

The activities proposed under the European Union-funded project have been designed to complement the support detailed above and thus assist the DNPPP throughout all phases of the PPP project cycle. It is also proposed to support other actors involved in PPP project management, such as the Ministry of Finance and its Research and International Relations Office, which is involved in analyzing the budgetary impact of projects, and the sectoral ministries that are the contracting authorities for certain projects.

Context of the assignment

As a result of the pipeline development and instruction process undertaken in the AFD funded phase of assistance, the Chipindo transmission line project submitted by RNT (public agency for national electricity transmission network) was selected as a pilot project in 2024 to undergo a prefeasibility study. This prefeasibility study was concluded in September 2024. It identified key triggers and missing information requiring further analysis, particularly regarding the approval of tariff flexibility, the considered levels of demand for the region, and the final perimeter of works dependent on other planification works realized on the Huila regional network. Additional information provided by RNT, MIREMPET and IRSEA since September 2024 have enabled to demonstrate the suitability of the project to move forward towards the feasibility stage. The formal greenlights for launching the studies has been provided in August 2025 by MINEA / RNT and the MINPLAN / DNPPP.

The activities proposed under the AGEPI EU-funded program encompass the financing of a full feasibility study for the Chipindo transmission line project. A team comprising team lead, financial, economic, environmental, social, legal and technical expertise will be constituted to conduct the study.

The experts will be recruited separately through specific procurement processes.

Transmission project description

Identification of the needs :

The Municipality of Chipindo has a territorial extension of 3,896 km², occupying about 5.33% of the territory of the Province of Huíla, approximately 85,000 inhabitants and a population density of 8 inhabitants / km². The municipality is rich in mineral resources, with a greater predominance of gold. However, gold exploitation entails a number of challenges, not the least of which is the lack of access to electricity.

This project arises from the request to supply electricity to local gold mines, located near Chipindo municipality that have been using mostly diesel, thus polluting the environment and burdening their operating costs. In addition, the connection network will be extended to the municipality itself through the development of a local electricity distribution network. The project is part of the State's vision to build a strategic main line for the transmission of electricity to the southern region (Huambo and Huíla) from the Gove substation (Huambo).

The initial idea of associating private and public consumers (gold mine and municipality) is to enable a form of hybrid financing where part of the return on private consumption (transmission lines would be principally financed by the mines) would contribute to the financing of the public distribution network.

Project overview

Initial Scope : the PPP project originally planned to sell electricity directly to gold mines at negotiated prices and to the municipality at regulated rates. This pricing differential was expected to ensure project profitability, with higher mine tariffs subsidizing lower municipal rates. Site visits revealed two critical issues that undermined the initial business model. First, regulatory constraints prevented selling electricity to mines at negotiated prices due to low voltage delivery levels identified on site. Second, demand estimates for both mines and municipality were revised significantly downward, creating unreliable revenue projections.

Selected Configuration :  RNT ultimately decided to integrate the project into the existing Gove-Cuvango 220 kV transmission line, utilizing an already budgeted substation in Chipindo. The final scope now includes :

This evolution reflects a shift from a standalone PPP to a more integrated infrastructure solution that leverages existing transmission planning and reduces overall project complexity and cost. Additionally, the last-resort supplier status finally granted by IRSEA give the SPV pricing flexibility to set market-based tariffs for mining consumers, increasing revenue generation perspectives.

Business Model : The concession model has been selected for this project. Under this structure, commercial relations (including tariff negotiations) and traffic risk will be transferred to the SPV. This concession approach aims to improve consumer acceptance, as tariffs negotiated by a private operator are generally more readily accepted than those implemented directly by RNT.

Institutionnal framework for this project

The core project team appointed by the PPP Governance Body (OGP) comprises three key institutions :

For comprehensive project oversight, a broader stakeholder group has been established, incorporating additional regulatory and sectoral bodies :

The expert will work closely with these stakeholders throughout the assignment and conduct consultations with relevant parties as deemed necessary for project development and implementation.

Expertise and Person Month Requirements :

The legal expert profile shall meet the requirements below.

While the Consultantmay propose additional specialists, the total level of effort, over the seven-month period, is estimated at  44 days .

Based on the requirements of these Terms of Reference, the Consultant is expected to define a detailed work schedule, including the proposed time in-country (for each proposed expert). It is to be noted that 2 on-site missions are planned for the conduction of the mision (one for data collection, one for study restitution).

Selection criteria will be heavily weighted on quality, capabilities, and experience of the Consultant, the quality and completeness of the proposed work program and legal analyses, and the overall price of the assignment.

Working environment and requirements

Experts must be comfortable operating in a context of high uncertainty, where decision-making processes may not always be straightforward, and information can be irregular or unavailable. Experience working in the region or sub-Saharan African countries is essential, along with proven ability to navigate similar uncertain project environments. Benchmarking with comparable regional countries will be crucial for interpreting existing and new data effectively.

The flexibility and creativity of experts are critical success factors and will be evaluated and scored accordingly during the selection process.

Interested consultants are invited to submit the following documents :

Proposals must be submitted exclusively through the official Expertise France online application portal available on the agency’s website. Only applications submitted via the official link will be considered. All documents should be submitted in English.

The selection process for expressions of interest will take place in two stages :

Time schedule for deliverables and associated payment schedule

Period of Performance

This consultancy service is expected to last seven (7) months , commencing in T1 2026. All work must be completed within this timeframe. The Contractor will perform this Assignment primarily through remote delivery with punctual travels to the site as mentioned in the table below.

Schedule / Milestones / Deliverables

During the execution of the study, the Consultant must prepare six (6) deliverables , covering all the work done in accordance with these terms of reference.

The reports should contain all relevant documents, maps, plans, and diagrams. These reports must be written in English and translated in Portuguese and sent in electronic format (in both Word version and PDF version).

All reports will first be produced in a draft version and then finalized after receiving and incorporating comments from the Client and other stakeholders. These will have a period of two (2) weeks to submit their comments and remarks.

Final reports will be issued no later than one (1) month after receipt of comments and remarks . If no amendment of the interim report is transmitted to the Consulting firm after the expiry of the above deadlines, the Consultant must publish the final version.

After the report is delivered, a presentation and validation session should be held with the client, in the form of a validation workshop. This workshop will take place in person in the client's country (Angola).

Indicative Time Schedule and Payment Schedule

N°

Deliverable

Narrative description

Travel required

Delivered no later than

Milestone payment %

Kick-off

Kick-off meeting; programming of study and exchange of available and necessary studies. The Consultant will provide a meeting agenda in advance of the in-person meeting and minutes after.

No

Within 1 week of contract signing

10

Data collection report

Data collection will take the form of an onsite visit to the Chipindo mining area. Preliminary online data collection will have been conducted through preliminary contacting of the mines, and of all relevant institutional stakeholders including RNT, IRSEA, ANRM and DNPPP.

Yes

Within 1 month of Kick off

10

Draft Feasibility Study

The Draft Feasibility Study and Conceptual Design Documents will be presented to the Client and other stakeholders. The presentation will consider the remarks and proposals on all the investigated aspects (included Market sounding and Public consultation meetings) with conclusions and suggestions concerning the reviewed material and the proposed purpose of the study. The draft will be subject to the Client review and approval.

No

Within 4 months of contract signing

20

Final Feasibility Study

The Final Feasibility Study and Conceptual Design Documents will be completed incorporating comments from the Client review.

No

Within 5 months of contract signing

30

Guidelines for tender phase

Guidelines including preliminary term sheet, initial set of clauses principles, list of impactful points and roadmap for the procurement

No

Within 6 months of contract signing

20

Final  Presentation

Upon submission of all reports, a visit to Luanda will be organized to present the completed work to the client and key stakeholders. It will be completed by a training session for legal and financial experts.

Yes

Within 7 months of contract signing

10