Development of wastewater treatment plants as PPPs in Gabes (Tunisia)

The Greater Gabes region constitutes a population basin of approximately 195,000 inhabitants, spread over a wide coastal strip, with a large industrial area to the North and to the South, a planned major tourist area. The sanitation master plan, validated in 2017, highlighted the need to build a new wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) for the entire Northern area of the Greater Gabes and to assess the opportunity of the creation of a new WWTP in the South to serve the planned tourist area as well as the Southern part of the city. To this end, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting ONAS in the development of these plants in the form of a Public Private Partnership (PPP).

In this context, the consortium made up of Gibraltar Advisory, based in Tunis, and Phoenix Consulting International will assist the EBRD and ONAS with all the commercial and financial aspects of the transaction, from its preparation to the commercial and financial close. In order to meet the specific environmental challenges of Gabes and to design a sustainable project, Phoenix and its partners will explore in particular options for reuse of the treated wastewater for agriculture or industrial uses.