Since October 2024, and for a period of 5 years, we have been supporting the National Office for Water and Sanitation of Djibouti (ONEAD) as an Operating Assistant (AEX) to improve its operational, financial, and environmental performance, in line with the objectives of its Strategic Plan for 2040.
A strategic asset at the heart of Djibouti's water security
The Doraleh desalination plant (22,500 m3/day) ensures access to quality water for the inhabitants of Djibouti City and Balbala. Operated by a third party since its commissioning in 2021, it is about to make a decisive leap: by this summer, ONEAD will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the plant, whose capacity will be doubled to reach 45,000 m3/day by 2028-2029.
A week of immersion in the Sultanate of Oman to prepare for this transition
To support the ONEAD teams ahead of the transition to direct management of the O&M at Doraleh, we organized an operational immersion within the desalination plants operated by Veolia in Sur (130,000 m3/day) and Barka (280,000 m3/day).
Accompanied by Frédéric Lacaze-Eslous (AEX desalination expert), Ali Walib Mohamed (O&M manager), and Abdourahim Mouhoumed (electromechanical maintenance manager), they were able to exchange with operational staff on key topics:
- Organization and management of O&M teams
- Monitoring the operation and performance of treatment stages
- Management of corrective and preventive maintenance, stock monitoring, and CMMS
- Instrumentation, automation, supervision, and reporting
- Continuous improvement and optimization of operating costs (especially energy)
A springboard towards operational excellence
This visit allowed ONEAD staff to access Veolia's know-how and expertise in the field of desalination. The practices observed will inspire many concrete actions to be implemented in Doraleh, with a clear ambition: to make this plant the showcase for ONEAD’s operational excellence and the guarantor of water security in Djibouti.
Many thanks to the Veolia teams in the Sultanate of Oman for the quality of their welcome and the richness of their exchanges with the Djiboutian delegation. Beyond technical sharing, a true spirit of cooperation was established between operational staff facing the same challenges: ensuring access to essential services in a region confronted with dwindling resources.