Can you tell us about Veolia’s history on the African continent?
Veolia started its activities in the continent of Africa more than 20 years ago as the reference of public services of drinking water, wastewater treatment and electricity production and distribution.
Where do you see the opportunities for growth within the industry in the next 5 years and how is Veolia positioned to support these opportunities?
The growing environmental concerns about extractive industries like Mining and Oil & Gas industries need to be managed by a key player, who is able to follow its clients anywhere, at anytime with the best international practices in environment protection. As the world leader in this field and more than twenty years of experience in Africa, Veolia’s teams are in the best position to fulfill the expectations of both industries and governments that are becoming more and more stringent.
It is not only a question of compliance to local regulation but more and more a question of license to operate for the industries that need to consider local content and people's acceptance to industrial development. On both aspects Veolia’s experiences and know-how can make the difference and contribute efficiently to our Clients.
What has been Veoila’s biggest success/ breakthrough been in the past 12 months? What do Veolia’s strategic objectives on the African continent in the next 12 months include?
Our Client’s projects are under a time frame that is much more longer than that. We have partnership discussions that can take several years between the first concept paper to final investment decision. We are confident that our solutions and services can contribute positively to the Final Investment Decisions of our Clients.
What question or industry issue are you looking forward to hearing about at the Africa Assembly?
We are eager to know about Industry investment plan in Africa for the coming years and how the environmental aspects are weighting in the process of their Final Investment Decisions.