A factory in La Mé is changing lives in Abidjan’s most densely populated communities. Leading the way in access to water thanks to the 240,000 cubic meters of drinking water it produces every day, the La Mé factory is also a model of female empowerment. Around one-third of the workforce is female, mostly in operational roles. Essential roles for essential services.
They are section leads, electricians, senior operators, lab technicians and bus drivers. They are Ivorians who are especially proud to be working in a factory that treats surface rather than subsurface water, thus relieving stress on the aquifer thanks to the La Mé river, which flows for 140 km through southeast Ivory Coast.
In these operational roles, the “femmes de La Mé” show their capacity to excel every single day in a business sector that, while demanding, has the ability to transform the world.
In a country where eight million people still have limited access to drinking water, they are delighted to be a force for development, using their skills to provide a long-term solution.
“We follow a proactive equality policy, in line with the Group’s commitments,” says Gilles Feuillade, CEO of Veolia West Africa. “Most of our people come from the Yamoussoukro engineering schools, a high-quality training network operating to international standards. Whether they have degrees or not, these women are more than capable of running the factory. They’re going to turn the tide...”.