"PPPs are among the most effective tools to accelerate water and wastewater infrastructure"

You joined Metito in 2004 and founded Metito Utilities after earlier roles in engineering and consulting. How has your career shaped your leadership and vision as CEO?

Since joining Metito in 2004 and founding Metito Utilities, my focus has been on combining the group’s engineering excellence with commercial acumen to create long-term, sustainable value. In Metito Utilities, our objective has always been not just to build infrastructure, but to develop, own, and operate assets that provide reliable service throughout their lifecycle. This balance, technical depth, disciplined structuring, and hands-on project execution continue to guide how we build partnerships that endure and generate impact over decades.

From your experience at Metito Utilities, how do public-private partnerships (PPPs) help accelerate water and wastewater infrastructure in emerging markets? What makes a PPP successful, and what are the main challenges?

Metito Utilities has been at the forefront of this model, becoming the first PPP developer in the water sector across the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia

PPP frameworks are among the most effective instruments for accelerating water and wastewater infrastructure, particularly in emerging markets where long-term capital and operational expertise are crucial. When designed effectively, they align national vision and strategy with private-sector expertise: the public sector defines the regulatory and policy framework, while the private partner brings financing, technology, and operational discipline. The result is infrastructure that is delivered faster, performs better, and remains resilient throughout its lifecycle.

Metito Utilities has been at the forefront of this model, becoming the first PPP developer in the water sector across the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia. Over just the past few months, we have seen three major PPPs become fully operational: the Dalian Water Treatment Project in China, the Dammam Independent Sewage Treatment Plant (ISTP )in Saudi Arabia, and the Zrenjanin Water Treatment Project in Serbia, each representing a completely different segment of the water value chain: industrial water, municipal wastewater, and safe drinking water production but together, they demonstrate how long-term partnerships can achieve tangible and lasting impact across diverse contexts.

A successful PPP depends on clear regulation, transparent governance, performance-based contracts, and fair risk allocation that hold both partners accountable for results. Drawing on our experience as a global developer, we structure projects that attract private capital while ensuring long-term service reliability. The main challenges remain aligning incentives across decades, mitigating currency and political risks, and strengthening local institutional capacity so that the benefits of each project endure well beyond commissioning.

From these transformative PPP water projects that Metito Utilities has pioneered across emerging markets, what lessons from these experiences can help shape the next generation of public–private partnerships in water infrastructure?

At Metito Utilities, we have delivered some of the most significant water PPPs across emerging markets. In Uzbekistan, for example, the Namangan Wastewater Treatment PPP became the country’s first wastewater PPP and set a new regulatory and contractual benchmark for the sector. In Rwanda, the Kigali Bulk Water Project, the first PPP project in the Sub-Saharan region, emerged as one of Africa’s earliest large-scale water partnerships, demonstrating how blended finance can meaningfully expand urban water access. In the Gulf, the Al Wakrah and Al Wukair Wastewater Treatment PPP in Qatar showcased how mature utilities can leverage PPPs to deliver high-quality service, advanced treatment solutions, and long-term operational efficiency.

From these projects, several key lessons emerge: the importance of clear contractual frameworks, equitable risk allocation, and performance-based structures that align public interest with private-sector efficiency. Our approach always emphasises replicability and scalability; each new market benefits from policy commitment, bankable structures, and sustainability-by-design features pioneered in earlier partnerships. Looking ahead, the next generation of PPPs will increasingly embed sustainability metrics, digital performance monitoring, and ESG-linked financing within their core structure, while maintaining the fundamentals of clear contracts, balanced risk sharing, and outcome-driven execution.

How does Metito Utilities collaborate with governments and communities to align incentives, manage risks, and ensure PPPs deliver long-term, sustainable value?

The success of Metito Utilities’ PPPs is rooted in our ability to align incentives, maintain transparency and uphold shared accountability with our public and private partners. We work closely with governments, local utilities and communities – engaging water authorities from the project outset to ensure sustainable and long-term value. At the outset of each project, we jointly define service outputs, tariffs or off-take models and step-in rights to minimise renegotiation risk, creating a predictable environment for investment and delivery. These structures are supported by globally recognised PPP frameworks and best practices from institutions such as the World Bank and other leading development banks.

Equally important is the integration of advanced technologies, skills transfer and community engagement throughout the project lifecycle. These initiatives build institutional capacity, enhance operational resilience, and ensure that stakeholder interests remain central. Through this collaborative model, we believe value is delivered not only in infrastructure terms but also in social, environmental and operational outcomes.

Development finance institutions play a critical role in de-risking early stages and mobilising private capital, while public funding provides the stability and policy clarity that long-term investors require. Balance lies in aligning all partners around a shared objective, creating infrastructure that delivers measurable impact, financial durability, and social value for decades.

With the launch of the Africa Water Infrastructure Development (AWID) platform, how is Metito Utilities leveraging this initiative to attract capital for climate-smart projects, and what lessons have emerged from early projects like the Kigali bulk water PPP?

At Metito Utilities, we tailor investment and financing models in-house to attract the right partners while ensuring projects remain bankable and sustainable 

AWID, co-established by Metito Utilities and British International Investment (BII), was created to develop climate-smart water infrastructure at scale and strengthen water security across Africa. The platform provides a commercially viable model for private investment in the sector, mobilising long-term capital while integrating green technologies and climate-resilient solutions throughout project design and operation.

The platform’s approach builds on the lessons from our early PPPs, such as the Kigali Bulk Water Project in Rwanda, which demonstrated how blended finance, robust contractual frameworks, and sustainable operations can deliver measurable development impact. Through AWID, we aim to replicate and scale that success, reducing transaction costs, standardising project development, and building a pipeline of bankable, high-impact water projects that advance Africa’s resilience and growth.

Metito Utilities recently signed MoUs with Italy’s CDP and SACE to advance water infrastructure projects. How do such partnerships support your broader investment strategy and help mobilise funding and expertise?

Partnerships with institutions such as CDP and SACE expand our ability to deliver complex, capital-intensive projects by combining complementary strengths. CDP can channel concessional or strategic capital and local industrial links, while SACE offers export credit and insurance solutions that reduce transaction and political risk for suppliers and investors.

Through this alliance, we aim to link Italian technology and expertise with Metito Utilities’ growing portfolio of projects across the Middle East and Africa, translating collaboration into sustainable infrastructure delivery. It reflects our broader strategy of building partnerships that mobilise international capital, foster technology transfer, and accelerate the development of sustainable water assets.

Metito Utilities has announced a $150 million expansion into China with a new regional HQ in Dalian. How does your investment strategy in China and Asia differ from your approach in the Middle East or Africa?

We have always been committed to a cleaner environment, and at Metito Utilities, sustainability is achieved through innovation, efficiency and adaptability

Our expansion in China marks a strategic re-entry into the country’s industrial water market. While our work in the Middle East and Africa focuses on municipal PPPs, in Asia, starting with China, we focus on industrial water, desalination, and high-efficiency treatment solutions for fast-growing manufacturing zones.

This expansion strengthens our diversified-growth strategy, leveraging Metito Utilities’ global expertise to diversify across regions, enhance resilience, and extend our impact in high-growth markets.

Many of Metito Utilities' projects integrate low-carbon solutions, such as the Xizhong Island desalination and treatment facility in China. How do renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies contribute to your sustainability goals?

As reflected in our tagline since 1958, we have always been committed to a cleaner environment, and at Metito Utilities, sustainability is achieved through innovation, efficiency and adaptability. Our focus is always on developing projects that ensure consistent performance, optimise resource use, and extend asset lifespan.

Take our Mirfa Wave Project (Wave) in Abu Dhabi, in partnership with ADNOC. By treating and transporting seawater, we reduce pressure on aquifer injection systems and achieve up to 30% lower energy usage compared to traditional injection methods. This not only enhances water security but also reduces the carbon footprint of water supply in the oil and gas context.

In China, our expansion includes the Xizhong Island desalination and treatment facility, which serves a major industrial hub. Because we integrate efficient treatment processes, this plant reduces reliance on more carbon-intensive water sources while supporting industrial growth sustainably.

We also leverage advanced technology in our projects through DouroECI, a Portugal-based Metito Utilities subsidiary. DouroECI provides engineering and digital water-cycle solutions, including non-revenue water management, real-time data analytics, and decision-support systems, all of which help utilities dramatically reduce water losses and optimise energy consumption. For example, in Zrenjanin, Serbia, DouroECI is leading a network-wide project to reduce non-revenue water losses using SCADA systems and flow metering.