The government and Veolia are locked in a major struggle over control of the country’s water system

The government and Veolia are locked in a major struggle over control of the country’s water system. “On 16 February, the Gabonese authorities physically took over the headquarters of the company that was 51% owned by the French firm and cancelled its concession in a dispute about service quality. On 8 March, Veolia launched a complaint at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) after a month of unsuccessful attempts to make peace. At the center of the dispute is President Ali Bongo Ondimba’s government’s claims that Veolia has provided poor services and has not spent what it was supposed to on infrastructure investment and upkeep.” Gabon “is an important Africa market for Veolia. In Africa, the French group is also active in Egypt, Morocco and Niger. (…) Veolia regularly has turnover of about €1bn from its African operations.”