Gabon's Minister of Energy and Hydraulic Resources has just presented two bills to the Planning, Economic Affairs, Production and Development Commission. They concern the regulation of the water and electricity sectors. The aim is to end the monopoly of the Société d'eau et d'électricité du Gabon (SEEG).
The draft laws regulating the water and electricity sectors in Gabon were presented on April 5, 2023 to the deputies of the Commission for Planning, Economic Affairs, Production and Development. For the “drinking water” sector, the bill under consideration concerns the improvement and expansion of the sector’s regulatory framework, through the liberalization of all segments of the sector, from production to distribution and even the marketing of drinking water.
“This will be done in compliance with safety standards as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), in line with the level of development of our country’s water infrastructure,” says Oswald Séverin Mayounou, Gabon’s Minister of Energy and Water Resources. Thus, the Société d’eau et d’électricité du Gabon (SEEG), which currently has a monopoly on the supply of drinking water in the country, will be supported by other players in the sector. This has already been the case for some years.
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For 20 years, 51% of the shares of the public company were held by the French environmental giant Veolia. But on February 16, 2018, the collaboration came to an abrupt halt, yet renewed for five years in March 2017. Among the reasons put forward by the Gabonese government, “the deterioration in the quality of service provided to users.” The end of the dispute will be marked by the retrocession by Veolia of its shares in Seeg to the Gabonese government.
The text of the law on the regulation of the electricity sector establishes the separation of the activities of the public drinking water and electricity services. According to Minister Oswald Séverin Mayounou, the objective is “to ensure the economic and financial balance of this priority sector. If these projects are approved, they will improve drinking water and electricity services in the Central African country. In 2022, less than 40% of Gabonese living in rural areas will have access to drinking water, and 55% in urban areas, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB). While 91.6% of the population has access to electricity in the city, more than 70% of households in rural areas are without this essential service.
Inès Magoum
