The 80th meeting of the Scientific and Technical Council (CST) took place from 19 to 23 November 2018 in Djibouti under the theme: Technological innovations to improve the performance of water and sanitation operators in Africa.
The CST is the permanent body of the African Water Association (AAE) formed by the members of the Association and its mission is to study the problems and propose solutions to the problems related to the water sector. 
Organized by the National Office of Water and Sanitation of Djibouti (ONEAD) in collaboration with the AAE, the inaugural ceremony of this conference was held Monday, November 19 at Kempinski Palace.

The Minister of Agriculture and Water, Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Awaleh, Minister of Higher Education and Research, Dr. Nabil Mohamed Ahmed, Director General of ONEAD, Mohamed Fouad Abdo, CST President, Dr. Papa Samba Diop, Executive Director of the AAE, Sylvain Usher, a hundred delegates from 44 countries in Africa and Europe, representatives from large multinational companies and water and sanitation industries took part in this important event for the health of African populations.

The choice of holding this conference in Djibouti is not insignificant because Djibouti has made progress in recent years in this area. Indeed, the problem of water is being solved thanks to the realization of a transboundary water supply project from Ethiopia and especially the start of the works of the desalination plant of the seawater Doraleh carried out by Eiffage in a consortium with the company Tedagua.

As such, our company was invited to present the PEPER project, the seawater desalination plant, which will be operational in 2020 and will supply 22,500 m³ / d expandable to 45,000 m³ / d.

After the welcome message, Mohamed Fouad Abdo emphasized the climatic conditions and the strong urbanization that were causing difficulties to ensure the supply of water to the population of Djibouti and the strategy developed to cover the needs in water of the population

The Minister of Agriculture Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Awaleh highlighted the importance of sharing and dialogue and subsequently opened an exhibition and visited stands on which industrialists and companies in the water and sanitation sectors have lavished their know-how. 

Thursday, November 22, our teams proposed a private tour of the site of the desalination plant. Mr. Amara FOFANA, Advisor to the General Manager of the Guinea Water Company, Mr. Antoine OLEA, Deputy General Manager of the Congolaise des Eaux and Mr. Gosso Francois Olivier, Production Manager Abidjan, honored us with their presence.