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Partner

Akusa Batwala

Akusa is a corporate and commercial law Partner based in Kuwait and has been with the firm since 2008. Prior to joining ASAR, Akusa worked as in-house legal counsel with an international telecommunications company operating in Uganda.

Akusa has extensive experience in corporate and commercial law matters including the representation of local and foreign clients in employment, insurance, construction as well as agency and distributorship related matters. Akusa has also been extensively involved in some of the most prominent and groundbreaking PPP projects in Kuwait, in which she has been involved in advising the government of the State of Kuwait, sponsor consortiums and lenders.

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Personal Info

+965 229 22700
Kuwait

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Laws (LLB) (with Honors) LLB, University of Leeds, United Kingdom, 2000
  • Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (Bar Vocational Course), Nottingham Law School, United Kingdom, 2001
  • Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Law Development Centre Kampala, Uganda, 2002
  • Master of Laws (LLM) in Information Technology and Telecommunications Law, University of Strathclyde, Scotland, 2006
  • Member of the Honorable Society of the Lincolns Inn (United Kingdom), 2001
  • Called to the Bar of England and Wales, 2001
  • Called to the Bar in Uganda, 2003
  • Member of the International Bar Association, 2009

Practice Areas

  • PPP & PFI Projects Data Protection & Privacy Government Procurement Healthcare & Life Sciences Media, Communication & Technology Agency & Distributorship Employment Insurance Construction
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Professional Experience

Education

Az Zour North Phase 1 – Independent Water and Power Producer (IWPP) Project
Akusa was part of the ASAR team that provided transaction advisory services to the government of Kuwait on the groundbreaking Az Zour North Phase 1 IWPP PPP Project. This power and water desalination plant is now fully operational and will ultimately supply 1,500 megawatts (MW) of electricity and 102 million gallons of water per day. Having reached financial close in December 2013 with both public and private stakeholders on board, the Al-Zour North Phase 1 IWPP is the first project to be successfully procured by the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP), the main body responsible for implementing projects on a PPP basis and the Ministry of Electricity and Water under Kuwait’s IWPP PPP Law.
Umm Al Hayman Wastewater PPP Project
Akusa was part of the ASAR team that acted as Kuwaiti legal counsel to the consortium comprised of WTE Wassertechnik GmbH (WTE) and International Financial Advisors Holding KSCP (the Consortium) who were awarded the Umm Al Hayman Wastewater Treatment Plant Project, one of the world’s largest and most complex water treatment projects with construction costs of approximately USD1.8-billion (excluding financing and operating costs), developed pursuant to Kuwait’s PPP Law under the auspices of the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects and the Ministry of Public Works. The Project’s financial close occurred on 29 July 2020.

Professional Experience

Extension of the Sulaibiya Wastewater Treatment Plant Project
Akusa was part of the ASAR team that acted as legal counsel to the lenders syndicate led by National Bank of Kuwait with respect to the extension of credit facilities to the Project Company (UDC) for purposes of the extension of the Sulaibiya wastewater BOT project. The facilities were in two tranches, Islamic and conventional. The Sulaibiya Plant is set to become the world’s largest-of-its-kind facility following an agreement between the Ministry of Public Works, UDC (the project company) and its lenders to expand the capacity of the treatment plant. The production capacity of the plant is to be increased from 375,000 to 600,000 cubic meters per day to become the world’s largest membrane-based wastewater treatment facility.
The new National Bank of Kuwait’s award-winning headquarters building
Akusa was involved in advising NBK, one of the largest local banks in Kuwait, on the construction contracts pertaining to the bank’s new state of the art, green and award-winning headquarters building located in the heart of Kuwait City. The building is 300m tall (61 floors above ground) and offers a total floor area of 127,000sqm.