Behind Niger’s water crisis: inside the management failures at Nigérienne des Eaux

In West Africa, water security remains a major challenge. In Niger, access to safe drinking water is the last health barrier for millions of households. However, recent findings from Niger’s Court of Accounts on the 2023 and 2024 financial years, combined with recent public procurement procedures, paint a worrying picture of the national water utility.

Bacteriological contamination: a health alert

According to the provisional audit report on the management of NDE (2023-2024), bacteriological analyses carried out in several regional centers reveal considerable deviations from World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. While the international standard requires a total absence of germs (0 CFU/100 ml), samples showed alarming bacterial presence rates:

• Doutchi: 50,100 CFU / 100 ml
• Maradi: 30,200 CFU / 100 ml
• Filingué: 17,120 CFU / 100 ml

This deterioration in water quality is mainly explained by the aging of the 6,957 kilometers of distribution network, which suffers from 20,000 to 40,000 leaks annually. These pipe ruptures encourage wastewater infiltration and pressure drops. Meanwhile, chlorine dosing, an essential link in disinfection, varies erratically between underdosing in Tillabéri or Dosso and overdosing in Niamey.

The situation is worsened by recurring stock shortages of treatment products (notably calcium hypochlorite) and the use of expired reagents in control laboratories, depriving the company of the ability to certify the potability of distributed water.

Network leaks and delivery failures: a financial abyss

Financially, the loss of unbilled water is estimated at 17.9 million cubic meters per year, representing a direct revenue loss estimated at 5.3 billion CFA francs for state coffers.

To these structural losses is added the poor execution of certain key public contracts:

• The network equipment contract (DAO No. 001/2025): Awarded in late 2025 to Nascom for an amount of 950 million CFA francs including tax, the main lot concerning the supply of connection equipment is significantly delayed. Despite the payment of a start-up advance of approximately 250 million CFA francs, the goods remained blocked at the manufacturer in Tunisia, leading to the freezing of new user connections.
• The renewal of treatment products (DAO No. 009/2026): An open tender was launched in September 2026 by NDE’s general management for the urgent supply of calcium hypochlorite, highlighting the imminence of supply needs to secure water plants.

Contested internal governance

The document also highlights weaknesses in internal control and human resources management at NDE. Unilateral expense allocations, accelerated promotions without respect for usual seniority grids, and the absence of certified training programs for network technicians compromise the company’s technical expertise chain.

While the right of reply of the parties and the adversarial phase of the Court of Accounts report continue, these revelations underscore the urgency of deep structural reforms within Nigérienne des Eaux, to guarantee the continuity of public service and the health safety of populations.