Elements pour une prise en compte de la participation des ménages au développement des réseaux d'eau potable et électricité dans les villes des pays en développement : le cas du Cameroun

Résumé

Households access to potable water and electricity distribution networks, in many town and cities in developing countries is still very limited. How can the access of urban households to water and electricity be upgraded and sustained without neither diminishing the quality of services offset nor considerably increasing the financial burden on the state ? Therefore, to provide an appropriate answer, we present the following propositions: On the financial side, a computerised methodology is established to evaluate the affordability of households in order rationalised investment and network exploitation. Technical issues deals with points of reference as an alternative to current design codes. On the basis of compatibility between the affordability of households and points of reference of which the probability of occurrence constitutes the risk, we define for each urban stratum, an appropriate service level, the type and optimal design of the distribution network; Finally, field tests carried out in three Cameroonian towns namely Obala, Yaounde and Bandjoun confirm the model proposed for network development. We have also put into place a graphical financial risk evaluation method which constitutes a decision making aid for a network extension or reinforcement. The procedure proposed goes beyond the customary procedure to obtain the ration of underserved “households per KM” of network is about 40%, this corresponds to an overall investment gain of 57%.