2005 - 2006 - Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2012

REPUBLIC OF CONGO PART 2: COUNTRY ANALYSIS
Republic of Congo
Financial problems curtail service provision
The Société Nationale des Eaux (SNDE), Congo’s water management company was set UP in 1967
for the provision of services for urban areas, principally Brazzaville, the capital. It is regulated by the
Ministry of Energy and Water, which was set up in 1984 to co-ordinate water provision policy. The
government is currently seeking to find a suitable way of privatising SNDE.
SNDE has not been able to extend its services beyond Brazzaville, Pointe Noire, Dolisie, Nkayi,
Mossendjo, Gamboma and the nine main departmental towns. Originally set up in the 1950s, the
supply network, which spans some 100,995km or 70% of the Brazzaville area, is now obsolete and
can only serve popular districts of the Congolese capital. The 60,279 subscribers in Brazzaville are
classified in two groups; 1,749 commercial, government and industrial customers and 58,523
individual customers.
In 1990, 50% of the urban population had direct access to safe drinking water and 63% of the
population of Brazzaville has piped drinking water, but there is no sewerage network or sewage
treatment for the city. In 2000, 67% of the urban population had access to safe drinking water against
72% in 1993, while the percentage had declined in rural areas from 24% to 17%. This reflects the
impact of population growth even at a time when the networks were being expanded. At least 50% of
urban households are still using pit latrines, while at least 30% were using septic systems.
Furthermore, 15-20% of urban dwellers have no access to proper infrastructure, while some 70% of
people living in rural areas have no sanitation whatsoever.
Privatisation of SNDE postponed
Despite active interest from the three French water companies (VE, Suez, and SAUR/Bouygues); a
management contract to operate SNDE was awarded to Cascal in November 2002. Cascal
subsequently declined to enter into the contract and the privatisation process has remained on ice.
72 Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2005 – 2006