Camerounaise des Eaux

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In September 2007, the government of the Republic of Cameroon awarded the national provision of water services to Onep-Delta Holding-Ingema, under a 10-year lease-affermage contract. Under the contract, the Société Nationale des Eaux du Cameroun (SNEC) handed over water production and distribution to the "fermier" Camerounaise des Eaux, a private company created for operating the water utility. Assets and investment responsibilities remained in government hands with Cameroon Water Utilities Corporation (CAMWATER) acting as the asset holding company. Onep-Delta Holding-Ingema was a Moroccan law holding, subsidiary of the Office National des Eaux (ONEP), the national Moroccan public water operator. Ownership breakdown by sponsor in the consortium was as follow: ONEP (33%), Delta Holding (33%), Ingema (1%) et Medz (subsidiary of Caisse de Depot et de Gestion)(33%), all Moroccan companies. Two consortia, ONEP (Morocco) and Veolia (France), qualified to submit bids. According to some reports, the lower affermage fee requested by ONEP was the main determinant of the choice. The contract was officially signed on December 18, 2007 by the Minister of Water and Energy, the Minister of Finance of Cameroon, the Director of CAMWATER and the Director of the Office national de l’Eau potable du Maroc (ONEP). At the time of signature, 4,000,000 inhabitants were served by the public provider, the Société Nationale des Eaux du Cameroun (SNEC) and the unaccounted for water ratio stood at 38%.