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28 April 2021

Socio-economic study for the establishment of a wastewater collection system in the municipality of Yopougon in Ivory Coast

Abidjan, like many African cities, suffers from a lack of access to sanitation. Yopougon is the most populous municipality of the ten of the Ivorian economic capital (over 1 million inhabitants) and also one of the most affected. Currently, all the wastewater collected is discharged, without treatment, into the Ebrié lagoon. Sanitation works in the central sector of Yopougon are a priority of the city’s Sanitation and Drainage Master Plan. They include the rehabilitation and extension of the network, the transfer of effluents, the construction of the 1st phase of the Vridi Gada treatment plant as well as a sea outfall. AFD, with C2D funding, plans to support the Ministry of Sanitation in carrying out these works, but first wishes to know the needs for connections to the sanitation network and the part of the subsidy that could be offered to households applying for these connections. Phœnix and SEURECA, in partnership with OpinionWay, are responsible for quantifying the connection needs, defining the technical and administrative procedures for their implementation, and establishing the method of financing the planned connections, taking into account the capacity and willingness to pay residents. Also, a “gender” action plan takes into account the issues related to gender equality throughout the project implementation

28 March 2021

Diagnosis of the cities of Libreville and Conakry in Gabon and Guinea

As a sign of rapid urbanization, Africa’s urban population is expected to double between 2010 and 2040, resulting in increased needs for housing, transportation, public services and other basic infrastructure. Municipalities are also faced with increasing water and air pollution and are constrained by the consequences of climate change. In response to these challenges, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched the Urban and Municipal Development Fund (UMDF) to improve planning, governance, quality of public services and resilience of African municipalities. Five cities (Bizerte, Dodoma, Conakry, Libreville and Antananarivo) were chosen as pilots to develop a diagnostic tool and a vision for the development of African cities. Phœnix and Groupe Huit are in charge of the study of the cities of Libreville and Conakry. For each of them, the aim is (i) to establish a reference base illustrating the state of the city by means of relevant data/indicators; (ii) to define the issues, challenges and opportunities of urban development; (iii) to develop a shared vision and strategic objectives, informed by the ambitions of the actors; (iv) to identify and prioritize development projects declined in action plans. Phœnix is in charge of the public services, economy and municipal finance component.

28 February 2021

Completion of the study on sustainable financing, economic viability and fiscal reforms of solid waste management in Ivory Coast

In terms of solid waste management (SWM), Ivory Coast is facing a dual challenge: (i) environmental, health and social challenge (the mismanagement of an increasing quantity of waste impacts the environment, public health and conditions of living); (ii) financial challenge (resources, mainly coming from taxes and levies collected by the Directorate General of Taxes or the Compagnie Ivoirienne de l’Electricité, are insufficient to cover the cost of efficient management). SWM is now largely centralized with ANAGED responsible for regulating and financing the entire cycle in the country. As often, a plurality of other public or private actors, often informal, intervene. An environmentally sound and economically sustainable SWM is now a priority in the implementation of national development policies moving towards emergence. Phœnix and Artelia are tasked by MINASS with developing a sustainable and viable financing mechanism for the sector and defining its institutional, legal and technical implications. Innovative proposals such as the introduction of eco-taxes and the identification of viable recovery and recycling channels are expected.

28 December 2020

IPP for hydroelectricity in Sao Tome e Principe

The electricity sector of STP presents many challenges. The country is 95% dependent on fossil fuels to produce its electricity although there is a real potential for production from renewable energy sources. Moreover, while the country has an installed capacity of 35 MW, only 21 MW is available, due in part to a recurrent lack of investment. The rate of access to electricity of 80% in urban areas contrasts with that in rural areas of barely 20% and production costs are very high. In application of the low-cost development plan drawn up in 2019, the government has decided to increase the share of RE in its energy mix, relying on hydroelectricity, solar and biomass. With the support of the ALSF (African Legal Support Facility of the AfDB), feasibility studies are underway to develop the Dona Eugenia (3 sites totalling 14 MW) and Bombaim (2MW) sites in the form of IPPs. The law firm CMS Rui Pena & Arnaut has been selected by ALSF to assist the government in structuring and conducting these tenders. CMS Rui Pena & Arnaut requested Phœnix’s support to undertake all the financial aspects of the operations. Phœnix relies on the good knowledge of the local context acquired through the prior experience of its experts in the electricity sector.

28 November 2020

Phoenix develops a financial model for Ethiopian Electric Power in Ethiopia

With over 100 million inhabitants and rapid economic growth, Ethiopia is committed to modernizing the energy sector. The generation segment was thus liberalized in 2017, allowing independent power producers (IPPs) to build and operate power plants to supply the national grid. A dedicated IPP unit has been created within Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), a national public operator, to examine these projects. Expertise France, in charge of a technical assistance to support economic reforms in the country funded by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), received a specific request from EEP to have a financial model as a tool for analyzing solar and wind power production projects. Expertise France commissioned Phœnix Consulting International to design this model. Developed for the Metehara solar power plant (100 MW), it will have to be replicable to other project producing energy from renewable sources. Phœnix is also responsible for capacity building of EEP’s IPP unit and training its agents so that they can use this model but also develop others to evaluate future projects.

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28 October 2020

One year !

A year ago, to the day, we decided to join forces again to create Phœnix, eager to continue an adventure started 20 years earlier… … with a goal as motivating as ever: to help improve the management of public services in developing countries. … and common values: Independence, listening, flexibility, responsiveness, pragmatism and respect for commitments. This first year was special in many ways. Very quickly after the start-up, the health crisis forced us to invent new ways of working with our customers and partners, but also among ourselves. Breaking out of the box thus became part of the founding of Phœnix DNA. In these particular conditions, we were able to carry out 28 missions… … in our 4 business sectors (water, sanitation, energy, solid waste) … in 20 countries, from Mongolia to Brazil, from Tunisia to Ethiopia, from Lebanon to the Ivory Coast! We would like to thank our customers for their renewed confidence. Thank you also to our partners for their constant concern. Thank you to our competitors for their incentives to always do better. Thank you to our new collaborators for helping us. With a satisfactory order book, we are entering our second year with enthusiasm, despite the current uncertainties. Now it is a question of living up to our own requirements by continuing our missions and starting new ones!

28 September 2020

Pre-identification of a project to develop access to water and electricity in the Central African Republic

Since 2013, the Central African Republic has experienced significant inter-community tensions that have had serious economic and social impacts. The country is now one of the poorest in the world, with an HDI index that declined between 2013 and 2017. Access to water services (75% in urban areas, 40% in rural areas) and electricity (around 5% nationally) is among the lowest in Africa and is concentrated in urban areas, particularly in Bangui, the capital. However, due to events, development actions have also been concentrated in Bangui or in rural areas. A large number of small towns (5 to 10,000 inhabitants) do not have any services, even though the demand seems high. Thus, in complementarity with the actions underway, the AFD wishes to develop a different approach adapted to these small towns, allowing the coupling of water and electricity access services with innovative equalization systems. Phœnix accompanies the AFD in the analysis of the legal and institutional feasibility of coupling these services, the evaluation of potential demand and capacity to pay of the populations and the definition of the guidelines of the project (intervention zone, institutional arrangements, management model, services and technological options).

28 August 2020

Support for the monitoring of the feasibility studies of public-private-partnership projects in the public lighting and wastewater sectors in Brazil

Brazil has made extensive use of PPP arrangements for the development of its infrastructure and is interested in exchanging international experience to contribute to its analysis, in particular on options for structuring contracts and conducting calls for tenders. AFD has entrusted Expertise France with supporting Brazilian municipalities in the definition, preparation, and procurement of PPPs in their priority sectors of competence. Two pilot projects were selected: sanitation of the city of Volta Redonda (260,000 inhabitants, State of Rio de Janeiro) and public lighting of the city of Toledo (120,000 inhabitants, State of Parana). The consultancy firms in charge of the feasibility studies and the tendering process for the recruitment of operators have been selected. Phœnix provides its expertise in the field of PPPs and coordinates the financial, legal and technical expertise that assists the contracting authority (the two Municipalities and the Caixa Econômica Federal, the national public bank) throughout the process up to the financial closing of the two operations. Phœnix is involved in each of the key stages of these processes, which are expected to last an estimated 2 years.

28 July 2020

Transaction Advisor for the development of renewable energies in Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast has embarked on an ambitious Renewable Energy development program aimed at increasing renewable energies from around 20% of the energy mix today to 42% by 2030. Massive investments in hydroelectric, solar and biomass production are planned. The strategic option has been taken to have these new production plants financed and operated by the private sector. As part of the ENERGOS II program, supported by the European Union, DT-Global has been selected by the government as a Transactional Advisor to support the implementation of this strategy. The official launch of the mission took place on July 23 2020 in the presence of the main electricity actors in Ivory Coast. Two Phœnix partners are part of the 4 key experts of the Transaction Advisory team: Marie d’Arifat is the institutional / PPP expert and Pierre Etienne is the economic / financial expert. During the next 4 years, the team will be in charge of supervising, coordinating and controlling all the studies and actions carried out, supporting the government in setting up operations, mobilizing funding, selecting investors and the development of renewable energy projects until their financial closing, and, finally, to strengthen the capacities of actors in the sub-sector.

28 June 2020

Technical assistance for water and sanitation sector reform in Lebanon

The reform of the water and sanitation sector in Lebanon, which is based on the new Water Code adopted in April 2018, is an opportunity to better meet the needs of the population by moving from a public policy focused on the development of infrastructure to a policy oriented towards a sustainable and quality service offer for all by improving the existing services. In the framework of the support programme for the reform of the water and sanitation sector, the European Union has delegated a fund to AFD for the implementation of an ambitious Technical Assistance (TA) programme to the Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) and the four regional Water Establishments (WEs): strengthening of the legal framework, implementation of monitoring indicators, definition of service delegation modalities, reduction of losses, cost control, capacity building of actors, better planning and sectoral coordination in particular. The programme, which will last five years, has three main components: 1. Programme management and support for the MoEW and the regional WEs by a team of resident technical assistants ; 2. Carrying out of specific studies under a Framework Agreement with subsequent contracts financed by a study fund ; 3. Enhancement of the AFD Agency in Beirut for program implementation and supervision and sector coordination. Phœnix provided support to AFD to prepare the specifications for this TA, identify the main risks and define specific clauses of the TA contract in order to mitigate them, define the bid evaluation criteria and the contract remuneration terms and conditions.