By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
The Coalition of trade union organizations and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, have raised serious concern created by the challenges of privatization .
The group made the disclosure at the 2025 Regional meeting of the PSI-DGB Project in Africa, yesterday in Abuja .
The meeting’s major areas of focus include; electricity, water and waste.
Delivering his welcome remarks, the General Secretary of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), Comrade Waheed Sikiru, said the challenges are beyond comprehension.Africa is sitting on gold but suffering in poverty.
“The idea of privatization was preached to us and we embraced it without weighing the challenges and its impacts on our people”.
He said the problem must be looked at and addressed squarely.
“Privatization is making us lose our jobs; but we must collectively work on how to get out of this quack-mire.”
The Regional Secretary of Public Services International (PSI), Daniel Oberko, “this meeting must send strong signals on the need for quality services”.
Oberko encouraged the unions to be committed in fighting privatization.
Similarly, Deputy General Secretary, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Bello Ismail explained that privatization is full of lies.
“ Members to build their unions so as to defend the rights of workers”
He emphasized that “Our destiny is in our hands. We must rise up and fight against exploitation”.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of Renevlyn Development Initiatives (RDI), Philip Jakpor, said privatization relies on the false logic that public utilities cannot work when publicly managed.
He said it breeds corruption, lack of transparency and accountability and it has largely failed.
He said it increased costs for the public and reduced service quality.
He also gave evidences such as the recent TNI report documented over 300 cases of de-privatisation which we also refer to as remunicipalisation in the water sector alone in the last two decades.
“Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, Paris, Accra, Berlin, La Paz, Maputo and Kuala Lumpur have remunicipalized”.
He revealed that
Nigeria is target of the privatizers due to its huge population which translates to enormous profit-making potentials in the eye of privatisers.
“Most of the 36 states have collected huge loans from EU and World Bank for water schemes that never worked and generations will have to pay back”.
He explained that in the World Bank’s Second National Urban Water Sector Reform Project nearly $7.5 million was allocated specifically for PPP development.
He mentioned that in kenya, Kenya has been facing threats of privatisation for decades.
“Private water multinationals Veolia and Suez have secured lucrative contracts in consulting and construction supported by France’s AFD”.
He stated that the World Bank has been pouring millions of dollars into promoting and creation of a regulatory environment that will open the doors to privatisation through PPPs eg $90 million spent to facilitate the establishment of a PPP law, a PPP unit, and several projects slated for privatisation in the water and other sectors.
Giving more insights, he disclosed that the Uganda experimented large-scale privatisations in the 1990s and early 2000s with European multinationals.
“Suez secured a major construction contract, funded by France’s AFD, for a drinking water plant in the Kampala region”.
He added that Uganda hosted an inaugural conference on PPPs in 2019 organised by the United Nations Economic Commissions for Africa and Europe where the failed model was promoted as “Africa’s Next Big Thing.”
He said there is a growing interest in Uganda by private water multinationals. “As at 2011 there were 18 different private water operators according to the World Bank”.
He said the meeting must also strengthen what has worked
and adopt new approaches and tactics.
He added that strong advocacy for PUP partnerships and work in solidarity is very necessary.
The group was drawn across three different african countries to address this critical issues by bringing best solutions at the end of the two(days) meeting .
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