In 1997 Gabon awarded the first real concession in Africa , under a contract that introduced coverage targets for expanding service to previously unconnected rural areas. SEEG, the new concessionaire, offers both water and electricity service, with the electricity business cross-subsidizing the less developed water business. Five years on, the concessionaire has performed well in established service areas, often exceeding targets, but has made less progress in more isolated areas.
In 1997, Gabon privatized its electricity and water utility, Société d’Energie et d’Eau du Gabon (SEEG). The transaction was the continent’s first privatization of a water and elec- tricity utility involving full commitment for future investment, and the first full concession in Sub-Saharan Africa under a contract that introduced coverage targets for expanding service to previously unconnected rural areas. IFC was the lead advisor to the government in this transaction.
PPIAF supported the preparation of an infrastructure framework report for the government of Gabon in 2003, with the objective of assessing the legal, regulatory, and institutional framework for private sector participation in infrastructure, and evaluating the potential for private sector investment across the infrastructure sectors. In 2008 PPIAF provided additional support to try to remove bottlenecks to competition in the telecommunications sector through an examination of interconnection issues.
Procuring Infrastructure Public-Private Partnerships 2018 is designed to help governments improve their PPP regulatory quality. By benchmarking the regulatory frameworks of economies around the world against internationally recognized good practices in procuring PPPs, this assessment identifies areas for improvement in the preparation, procurement, and management of PPPs.
This document introduces the PPP legal and institutional framework of Gabon.
Order 009/PR of 11 February 2016 on PPP contracts sets the framework of preparation, signing and execution of contracts and agreements. In 2018, three implementing decrees entered into force;154/PR/MPIPCI setting the setting the procedures for awarding public-private partnership contracts, 155/PR/MPIPPP on the attributions, organization and functioning of the Steering Body for Public-Private Partnerships and 156/PR/MPIPPP on the attributions and organization of the Body for evaluating public-private partnerships tenders.
A Public-Private Partnership Support Unit was created within the National Investment Promotion Agency (ANPI) in 2018.