Goudel sedimentation tank, Niamey, photo by Société du Patrimoine des Eaux du Niger
The current situation, structural gaps and future outlook.
Published on: 20/04/2026
The regulation of the WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) sector in Niger did not start from scratch, but it remains deeply asymmetrical. To date, there is no regulatory structure dedicated specifically to sanitation. While the drinking water sub-sector has gradually built a structured institutional framework with the creation of ARSEau (Autorité de Régulation du Secteur de l’Eau), sanitation remains subject to fragmented governance, relying mainly on health and environmental control bodies rather than on an independent regulatory authority. This absence is one of the main obstacles to achieving universal access to WASH services.
The Multisector Regulatory Authority (ARM) and its limitations
The foundations of sectoral regulation date back to the economic reforms of the 1990s. In 1999, Ordinance No. 99-044 of October 26 established the Multisector Regulatory Authority (ARM). Initially created to support telecommunications liberalisation, its mandate was later extended to water, energy, and transport.
In the water sector, ARM was responsible for tariff control and monitoring operator obligations. However, as early as 2009, a report by the Global Water Partnership for West Africa (GWP-WA) pointed out critical limitations: insufficient human and financial resources, lack of systematic counter-expertise, and poorly operational regional laboratories.
Urban water reform (2000–2001)
The decisive turning point came with Law No. 2000-12 of August 14, 2000, on the organisation of the urban water sub-sector. This text defined the respective roles of the State, ARM, the Niger Water Assets Company (SPEN), and the Niger Water Operating Company (SEEN).
The transition to ARSEau
ARM was dissolved in 2012. For the water sector, it was replaced by the Urban and Semi-Urban Water Regulation Bureau (BRHUSU), a department attached to the Ministry in charge of Water, which operated from November 2013 to 2019.
Faced with the need for greater independence, the Water Sector Regulatory Authority (ARSEau) was created by Law No. 2019-15 of May 24, 2019. ARSEau is an independent administrative authority with legal personality and financial autonomy, thus replacing BRHUSU.
WASH governance in Niger rests on two distinct legal texts, reflecting a historical separation between resource management and hygiene issues:
This duality creates institutional silos. While water has an economic regulator (ARSEau), sanitation falls more under health and environmental prerogatives, with no integrated mechanism for tariff regulation or service performance.
Mandate and missions
The regulation of public water services is ensured by the Water Sector Regulatory Authority (ARSEau), created by Law No. 2019-15 of May 24, 2019. Its mission is to:
Financial architecture
Water sector operators holding a delegation contract, license, or operating permit are required to pay an annual regulatory fee to the Water Sector Regulatory Authority set at 2.5% of each operator's annual turnover.
The law provides for two distinct instruments:
The National Water and Sanitation Fund, intended to finance water management, aims to implement the "user-pays" and "polluter-pays" principles, applied to any natural or legal person whose activities use water or are likely to cause or aggravate pollution or degradation of water resources.
The Universal Access Fund is intended to finance universal access to water. It aims to provide drinking water of sufficient quality and quantity to all populations, especially those in remote and isolated areas.
ARSEau is responsible for collecting operator contributions that feed both Funds.
Water sub-sector regulation normally applies to urban areas. In rural areas, according to the findings of the 2016 study on delegated management performance, stakeholders do not have all the data relating to this management, and the management tools put in place are not used effectively. Consequently, no reliable assessment of the efficiency of public water service management is possible.
For the water sub-sector, local authorities manage and maintain the assets transferred to them in accordance with the provisions of the Water Code and its implementing texts. However, they face insufficient human, financial, and material resources.
In terms of regulation, ARSEau defines the national framework for water; however, it faces certain difficulties that hinder its drive for continuous performance improvement. These include, among others, insufficient financial, human, and material resources, which are still not aligned with the requirements, roles, and responsibilities of its mission. For the moment, ARSEau's scope of action is limited to urban areas.
There is no overarching regulatory agency or body responsible for enforcing laws in the sanitation sub-sector; however, specific control bodies do exist, such as the health police, environmental police, veterinary police, phytosanitary brigade, and the National Environmental Evaluation Office.
Three strategic priorities stand out for Niger:
Priority 1: Establish a regulatory framework dedicated to sanitation
It is urgent to fill the regulatory void by extending ARSEau's mandate or creating a complementary sectoral authority. The goal is to oversee tariffs, quality, investments, and public-private partnerships in sanitation.
Priority 2: Strengthen municipal and rural regulatory capacities
Support decentralisation with financial resources, performance monitoring tools, and accountability mechanisms. Municipalities must become genuine guarantors of WASH equity, not mere recipients of responsibilities without means. Regulation must reach the local level to capture the reality of rural services.
Priority 3: Operationalise sectoral funds for sanitation
Provide the National Water and Sanitation Fund (FNEA) with transparent allocation criteria specific to sanitation, linked to performance indicators validated by an independent authority. Regulation must produce a real expansion of sanitation coverage, not merely administrative compliance.
Water and sanitation are two sides of the same coin. In Niger, regulators have succeeded in building a credible institution for drinking water (from ARM to ARSEau). The challenge for the coming years is to bring about the same transformation for sanitation: moving from fragmented governance based on health control to an integrated regulatory framework capable of incentivising investment, guaranteeing service quality, and ensuring universal access to sustainable WASH services.
