Design, drafting and award of public-private partnership contracts in the sanitation sector in Tunisia
Context
The National Office of Sanitation of Tunisia (ONAS, Office National de l’Assainissement), is a Tunisian public company providing wastewater collection and treatment services for about 6 million people across the country.
Facing rising treatment costs, the ONAS has been asked by the Tunisian government to increase the transfer rate to the private sector. The ONAS would thus become the first public utility in Tunisia to launch public-private partnership (PPP) projects under the concession regime, which was introduced in 2007-2008 to promote private participation in infrastructures.
The ONAS will need to urgently implement these new contracts within the year following the mission, as most of the current operation & maintenance contracts are expiring.
Objective
The objective of this mission is to prepare PPP contracts and all the tender documents, and to provide all the necessary support to the ONAS during the consultation process: pre-selection, tender and award of the contract.
Our contribution
Within the ARTELIA/Bird & Bird/Dakhlaoui consortium, our team has conducted the following activities :
- Due diligence :
- Stakeholder analysis and evaluation of existing operation & maintenance contracts
- Legal due diligence: assessment of existing legislation, of ONAS' legal structure, identification of the legal framework applicable to the proposed PPP programme
- Technical analysis: grouping of assets, technical assessment of assets
- Design of a PPP structure: technical visit, proposal for the main feature of PPP contracts, consultation committee
- Financial modelling and analysis: development of a financial model for each regional sanitation PPP contract
- Exchange workshop
- Call for tenders
- Pre-selection phase, preparation of tender documents and PPP contracts
- Assistance throughout the bidding process: evaluation and selection of bidders, negotiation, award of the contract and closure
Our team has combined its legal, technical, and financial expertise, and has capitalized on its experience in structuring and implementing PPPs to understand the specific challenges of these projects in the Tunisian context, and to assist the ONAS in preparing and awarding contracts.
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