SAUR was established in 1933 and became a subsidiary of the Bouygues Group in 1984. The company provides water to almost 31 million people throughout the world – 6 million consumers are served in SAUR’s homeland: France. France has given the world wonderful wine and bread – and it has also developed the model of water privatization that is pushed by the World Bank, the European Union and many bilateral agencies.
SAUR has managed to hold a dominant role in Africa, particularly in French West-Africa where it is involved in several controversial projects.
SAUR International, the international holding company of SAUR, claims to serve a total of 45 million people in energy and water services combined. This part of the group was created in 1995 in order to expand to new markets and reap the benefits from increased multilateral funding to private water utilities. Electricite de France, another major corporation that invests heavily in energy internationally and holds a monopoly on the French energy market, bought a 23% share in SAUR international in 1995 through a subsidiary configuration.
Read the report:
SAUR: A Corporate Profile 
[303 KB]
In the News:
2003
August 23: Private droughts: The poor are not profitable, and foreign firms are pulling the plug
