Libreville, Tuesday, 30 June 2026 – For years, discussions about Gabon’s water and electricity crisis focused only on the consequences: endless blackouts, water shortages, load shedding, and public frustration. But a crucial question was rarely asked: were the engineers and technicians who truly understand the networks, installations, and technical constraints ever given a real voice?
This week’s meeting between President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema and SEEG employees at the Jean Violas Training Centre in Owendo could mark a major shift in how the crisis is understood. For nearly three hours, the head of state listened directly to those who face the reality on the ground every day.
The workers’ message was clear. Beyond aging infrastructure, one of SEEG’s deepest problems is the gradual sidelining of technical expertise in decision-making.
Technicians’ voices finally take centre stage
A veteran employee described how his team had warned management for years about a failing transformer, but no action was taken until a district was left in the dark for nearly a week. His testimony echoed what many workers have long repeated: technicians detect failures, identify risks, propose fixes, but their advice is often ignored in strategic trade-offs.
This complaint reflects a pattern seen in many state-owned companies worldwide. When decisions drift away from operational realities, dysfunctions pile up until they become structural.
Other employees—electricians, electro-mechanics, network engineers, water specialists, and maintenance experts—described a system where technical know-how does not always carry the weight it should in the decision chain.
The parallel with major international companies is striking. The crises at Boeing, often cited by industrial management experts, show what happens when administrative or financial priorities gradually override technical requirements. Conversely, groups like Mercedes built their success on giving engineers a decisive say in strategic choices.
Water: a design challenge as much as a production challenge
The exchanges also shed light on several little-known realities for the public.
On water supply, employees explained that difficulties are not only due to cuts or old facilities. Pressure is a determining factor. When available volumes drop, pressure falls mechanically, preventing water from reaching certain neighbourhoods or upper floors of buildings.
This situation worsens during the dry season. The resource currently tapped from the Ntoum River naturally experiences low flow, reducing levels and discharge.
This reality raises a strategic question: why not use the current sector overhaul to consider a larger intake directly connected to the Kango River, whose volumes are much more abundant and stable year-round?
Such a move would obviously require major investment. But it fits precisely the logic of structural infrastructure that must support a growing country’s needs.
Reform will only succeed with competence
The upcoming creation of the Gabonaise des Eaux and Électricité du Gabon is a historic chance. Rarely has the country had such an opportunity to completely rebuild two strategic companies.
But the success of this transformation will depend not just on funding or equipment. It will hinge on the ability to put technical skills back at the centre of the system.
The direct dialogue between the head of state and the workers proved one essential thing: solutions already exist within the organisations themselves. They live in the women and men who design, maintain, and operate the infrastructure daily.
Perhaps the real lesson of this meeting is this: the new entities that replace SEEG must rely more on their engineers, technicians, and specialists. In sensitive sectors like water and electricity, the state can finance infrastructure. But only expertise, on-the-ground listening, and competence can ensure the public service lasts. This may be the most important takeaway from Gabon’s energy and water crisis today.
