Libreville, Tuesday 30 June 2026 – For years, the debate on Gabon’s water and electricity crisis has focused on the consequences: repeated blackouts, water shortages, load shedding, public discontent. But rarely has a fundamental question been asked: Have those who truly understand the networks, installations and technical constraints been listened to enough?

The meeting held this week between President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema and SEEG agents at the Jean Violas Trade Centre in Owendo could mark a major turning point in understanding this national crisis. For nearly three hours, the head of state agreed to hear directly from those who have lived the realities on the ground for years.

The assessment delivered by the agents is unambiguous. Beyond the ageing infrastructure, one of the deepest problems at SEEG lies in the gradual marginalisation of technical expertise in decision-making processes.

Technicians’ voices at the heart of the diagnosis

One senior engineer, who requested anonymity, described a management culture where the technical voice is often sidelined by administrative and financial priorities. His testimony summed up what many agents have long repeated: technicians observe failures, identify risks, propose solutions, but their recommendations are not always considered in strategic trade-offs.

Behind this criticism lies a reality seen in many public companies worldwide. When decisions gradually drift away from operational realities, dysfunctions accumulate and become structural.

Other agents echoed this view. Electricians, electromechanics, network engineers, water specialists and maintenance experts described a system where technical expertise does not always occupy the place it should in the decision chain.

The parallel with some large international companies is striking. The crises experienced by Boeing, often cited by industrial management specialists, have shown what happens when administrative or financial imperatives gradually overtake technical requirements. Conversely, groups like Mercedes have long built their success on the decisive influence of engineers in strategic choices.

Water: a design challenge as much as a production one

The exchanges also shed light on several realities little known to the general public.

Regarding water supply, the agents explained that the difficulties are not only due to cuts or ageing installations. Pressure is a decisive factor. When available volumes become insufficient, pressure drops mechanically, preventing water from reaching certain neighbourhoods or certain floors of buildings.

This situation is aggravated during the dry season. The resource currently extracted from the Ntoum river naturally experiences low water levels, a phenomenon that reduces the available flow.

This reality revives a strategic question: why not use the current sector reform to launch a reflection on a larger intake directly connected to the Kango river, whose volumes remain significantly more abundant and stable throughout the year?

Such an orientation would obviously require considerable investment. But it corresponds precisely to the logic of structural infrastructure that must accompany the needs of a growing country.

Reform will only succeed with expertise

The upcoming creation of the Gabonaise des Eaux et d’Électricité du Gabon is a historic opportunity. Rarely has the country had such an important chance to completely rebuild two strategic companies.

But the success of this transformation will not depend solely on funding or equipment. It will rely above all on the ability to put technical skills back at the heart of the system.

The direct exchange between the head of state and the agents demonstrated one essential thing: the answers often already exist within the organisations themselves. They lie with the men and women who design, maintain and operate the infrastructure every day.

The real lesson of this meeting is perhaps this: the future entities that will succeed SEEG will have to rely more heavily on their engineers, technicians and specialists. Because in sectors as sensitive as water and electricity, infrastructure can be financed by the state.

But only expertise, listening to the field and competence can sustainably guarantee public service. That is probably the most important lesson Gabon can draw today from its energy and water crisis.