The African Water Association (AfWA) Executive Director regrets to inform you of the recall to God of Mr. Marcel Zadi Kessy, the founding father of the African Water Association. Mr. Zadi’s passing occurred during the night of Wednesday 13 to Thursday 14 October 2020, in Abidjan, following a long illness.

Mr. Zadi Kessy Marcel was President of the Economic and Social Council of Côte d'Ivoire from 2011 to 2016. In Côte d'Ivoire, his name rhymes with the « Groupe de la Compagnie ivoirienne d’électricité (CIE) », (Ivorian Electricity Company Group) and the « Société de Distribution d’eau de Côte d’Ivoire (SODECI) » (the Water Distribution Company of Côte d'Ivoire), which he joined in 1970. After successively holding the positions of Head of Department, Department Director, Deputy Director General, and General Manager, Marcel Zadi Kessy became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SODECI in 1985. In 1990, at the creation of the Ivoirian Electricity Company (CIE), during the privatization of the Ivorian electricity sector, Marcel Zadi Kessy also became the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). For more than ten years, he thus cumulated the functions of CEO of both companies, then in 2002, he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of both companies.

Mr. Marcel Zadi Kessy is Founding Chairman of the African Union of Water Distributors (UADE), which later became the African Water Association (AfWA).

The Executive Director of AfWA presents his sincere condolences to Mr. Zadi’s biological and professional families.

A online condolence' book is open. To write a word, please click here.