(Business in Cameroon) - According to credible sources, the government, water utility Camwater’s executives, and various experts are meeting, since May 22, in Kribi to review the first amendment to the concession contract between the State of Cameroon and Camwater. It is expected to lead to the adoption of the amendment, which will officially make Camwater responsible for the production, transport, and distribution of drinking water. 

The amendment will just officialize what Camwater has already been doing for five years now.  On February 20, 2018, a presidential decree put the utility in charge of the production, transport, and distribution of drinking water in urban and peri-urban areas. Before that date, Camwater was only in charge of the provision of drinking water. 

The 2018 decree officially ended the activities of the Cameroon Water Company (CDE). Ten years earlier, CDE, which was controlled by a consortium of Moroccan investors led by Onep, inherited the tasks of producing, transporting, and distributing drinking water in Cameroon, after the National Water Company SNEC was privatized, giving birth to CAMWATER, a company in charge of the managing and developing infrastructure in the water sector. 

The Camwater-CDE tandem failed to adequately provide clean water with the country experiencing repeated failure in supply.  The situation led the government to renationalize the water supply industry, with the February 20, 2018 decree. However, there was no contract to officially put Camwater in charge. 

BRM