Mission review from Djibouti: Operator-Assistant Contract

Mission review from Djibouti: Review of the First Year of the Operator-Assistant Contract (AEX)

After an initial mission in June 2025 dedicated to establishing the Supervisory Committee for the Objectives and Performance Contract (COP) between ONEAD and the State, Thomas Le Jeune, Noémie Guigue from Espelia's Inter Environnement division, and their partners from Artelia, Corinne Drujon and Julien Aulner, traveled to Djibouti at the beginning of October.

This mission aimed this time to review the first year of the Operator-Assistant Contract (AEX) concluded with the Seureca / Veolia / OIEau / Insuco consortium. This “take-off phase” involved conducting a 360° operational diagnosis of ONEAD and building the technical and organizational foundations for ONEAD’s long-term strategic transformation (the “ONEAD 2040” strategic plan) and for the five-year term of the AEX contract through a transformation plan.

Numerous working sessions and workshops brought together ONEAD, AFD, and the AEX consortium, enabling exchanges on the results obtained and the priorities ahead. The main goal was to ensure that the collaborative momentum was in place so that the AEX could fully “infuse” within ONEAD, and that the foundations (indicators, benchmarks, procedures, roadmaps) were established to approach the contract’s second stage – the “cruise phase” – under optimal conditions to support ONEAD’s transformation. This contract is also notable for its remuneration mechanism, under which a portion of the AEX remuneration will be based on achieving performance objectives for the service provided by ONEAD.

The Espelia team also had the opportunity to visit the Doraleh desalination plant, currently undergoing its second phase of development: a remarkable facility now producing 20,890 m³/day, illustrating ONEAD’s commitment to diversifying water sources in a particularly challenging context of increasing consumption and pressure on conventional resources.

Many thanks to ONEAD, AFD, and the AEX consortium for their hospitality and the richness of our exchanges! We look forward to continuing this partnership in support of achieving SDG 6 in Djibouti.

See you next year for another update on the project’s progress, to ensure that this innovative support scheme for a public water and sanitation company can live up to all its promises!

Discussion on AEX contract indicators, 10/01/2025, Djibouti

Sand filters, Doraleh desalination plant, 10/01/2025, Djibouti