ANALYSIS: Lawmakers mulling change to Brazil water law causes concerns
Bnamericas
Published: Thursday, March 16, 2023
While several Brazilian states want to advance water concessions and privatizations, mixed signals by lawmakers are generating uncertainty.
Fewer auctions were expected this year, since new government terms started in January and authorities are collecting data before greenlighting concessions. But São Paulo still plans to privatize the country's largest water firm, Sabesp, in 2024, while Pará wants to offer water services concessions.
“The concession model is similar to that in Rio de Janeiro, in Alagoas, states, where the concession contract focuses on water production, preserving the state company's structure, and calls on private capital to expand water coverage and sewage treatment,” Pará’s governor Helder Barbalho said at a press conference.
According to Barbalho, development bank BNDES will help structure the concession.
State firms are serving around 75% of Brazil’s population, but the share was even higher before reforms in 2020 facilitated private investments.
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