Posted on 07.06.2023 at 09:37 by Linda Manga
Senators voted unanimously on 1is June 2023, the two bills regulating the water and electricity sectors in Gabon.
The senators voted for the separation of the public water and energy services. Indeed, these are two texts adopted during the Council of Ministers in September 2022. The first bill, we learn, aims to improve and expand the framework for this sector by liberalizing all segments, from the production to the distribution, even to the marketing of drinking water. It takes into account the various socio-economic and health aspects of water through a set of provisions which have been established as fundamental principles for good water management, particularly in the field of drinking water and the fight against pollution.
As for the second bill, the latter enshrines the separation of the public service activities of drinking water from that of electricity. The objective is “ d’ensure a better economic and financial balance of the said sector“, according to the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources. We learn on the New Gabon site.
It should be noted that the Société d’Energie et d’Eau du Gabon (SEEG) is the sole distributor of water and electricity in the country. These two bills reflect the government’s desire to regulate and modernize the water and energy sectors. These reforms are taking place in a context of repeated water cuts and shortages in the country, a situation that has caused the disenchantment between the populations and the SEEG.
