Societe Nationale de Distribution d'Eau (SNDE) Management

concluded

In January of 2002, Britain's Biwater Plc was named as winner of a bid to run Congo Republic's/Brazzaville state water firm Societe Nationale de Distribution d'Eau (SNDE) for two years, beating rivals Vivendi and Suez. The agreement had been reached to prepare the water and wastewater sector in the country for full ownership by Biwater soon after. SNDE was burdened by debts of some 61 billion CFA francs (US$80 million) and also owed substantial wage arrears. In April of 2003, Biwater attempted to renegotiate its contract because it found unexpected liabilities in SNDE’s accounts. The government in turn accused Biwater of not abiding by the terms of the contract, notably because the company had raised tariff rates. The privatization of the management of SNDE had also been difficult, owing to problems with the existing management and the company’s high level of debt. The project concluded in 2004 and was not renewed. From e-mail received on 3/3/06: The SNDE case is not very transparent (as many deals in the Congo Republic). The government tendered and awarded a concession contract to Biwater (the Bank was not involved at any degree in the preparation of this tender). Then Biwater discovered that they were not ready to carry out a concession contract and they negotiated instead a management contract with the Government. However, this contract never became effective. it is extremely difficult to get explicit information on what happened and on the legal status of the management contract. In any case I believe it should be removed from your database. best regards Richard Verspyck Water and Urban 2 Central and Western Africa None