Is urban water sector reform in Uganda pro-poor?

Water service coverage to the urban areas of Uganda is one of the lowest in Africa, estimated at about 25% of the total urban population at the turn of the century. Sewerage coverage is far less. As a result, the government commissioned a study to explore the best option to reform the water sector with an objective of achieving universal coverage by the year 2015. The consultants came up with a final report in 2001, in which they proposed a single lease contract for a group of 33 larger towns, and management contracts for smaller towns. This paper critiques the proposals, and concludes that there are inadequate mechanisms put in place to serve the urban poor

Have public private partnerships (PPPs) improved performance of urban water utilities in sub-saharan Africa? The case of Uganda

Provision of water and sanitation services in many sub-Saharan African countries in the post-independence period was a preserve of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). However, as time went by, many SOEs failed to meet the expectations of their customers, governments and international funding agencies: neither could they adequately expand the infrastructure to serve the increasing urban population, nor could they efficiently operate/maintain existing infrastructure to provide good service levels to the existing customer base. Hence, international donor agencies, on which many developing countries relied for financing infrastructure development since the debt crisis of the 1980s, initially demanded for the restructuring of SOEs, and thereafter called for involvement of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in the delivery of services. It was expected that the PPPs would not only attract the much needed infrastructure investments to the developing countries, but would also provide a new emphasis on a proactive, performance- and commercial-oriented management. As a result, since the late 1980s, international water operators have signed management, lease or concession contracts with water utilities in many developing countries. For instance, according to the World Bank’s database on private participation in infrastructure projects, by 2005, 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa had invited international water operators to provide water and sanitation services to urban areas. Nonetheless, the number of people with inadequate service levels for both water and sanitation in developing countries has been increasing. WHO/UNICEF estimates that the number of urban residents in the developing regions without access to safe water increased from 107 million in 1990 to 170 million in 2004, while for sanitation, the number increased from 475 million to 611 million in the same period. The situation is critical in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where it was estimated in 2004 that only 56% and 34% of the population had access an improved water source and basic sanitation, respectively. This paper traces the genesis of PPPs in SSA and provides general trends/scope of PPPs in the sub-continent, and how PPPs have contributed to improvements in service delivery. The paper also draws evidence from a detailed case study on Uganda, where water services in Kampala, the capital city were provided on two occasions through management contracts with different international private operators: between 1988 and 2001 by JB Gauff, a German firm; and between 2002 and 2004, by Ondeo International of France. The paper makes a comparative analysis of the performance trends of the water utility in Kampala during the period when services were being delivered under the PPP arrangements, with the post-2004 period when services are currently being delivered under the New Public Management model

The influence of customer perceptions of urban utility water services on bill payment behaviour: findings from Uganda

Intensive research activities in low-income countries during the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990) led to the conclusion that cost recovery is a prerequisite for the sustainability of water services provision. The challenges for cost recovery are greater in urban areas of low-income countries where, it is projected, 88% of all the increase in global population will live by 2015. In spite of these challenges, available data show that the bill collection efficiency in selected urban water utilities in Africa in 1996/97 ranged from as low as 50%. This study used empirical data, obtained through a cross-sectional survey in eleven towns in Uganda, to establish the influence of customer perceptions on bill payment behaviour. Using qualitative methods, a questionnaire was developed, pretested, piloted and refined, before it was sent to a probability sample of 690 registered customers of an urban water utility. Regression analysis of the obtained results showed that customer perceptions of technical quality, functional quality, service value and corporate image are individually strongly related to customer satisfaction. Correspondingly, service value and customer satisfaction predict substantial variation in customer loyalty, which in turn is a predictor of bill payment behaviour. Furthermore, gender, level of education, and type of occupation of the head of household, together with tenure status and household income, moderate the satisfaction/loyalty relationship. Findings of this research also highlighted the relative importance to customers of urban water utilities of such software attributes as: (i) how interface staff relate to customers during service encounters; (ii) how easy it is to transact with the utility, and (iii) the image organisational personalities project to the public. These findings have one major implication for supply-driven managers of water utilities: Similar to other services, customer orientation will improve profitability ratios in the urban water sector of low-income countries

Soft systems methodology for performance measurement in the Uganda water sector

Water and sanitation services in developing countries are delivered in an extremely complex institutional environment, characterised by “soft” problems, that is problems with significant political and social components whose “what” and “how” cannot be defined early in the intervention process. A problem situation common in developing countries depicting “soft” characteristics is how to improve the effectiveness and efficacy of existing performance measurement systems to track the progress towards achievement of water/sanitation-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Such problem situations are better handled using soft systems methodology (SSM), a methodology recommended by Professor Checkland and his research colleagues at Lancaster University, UK. In 2003, SSM was applied in an intervention that aimed to improve performance measurement systems in the Uganda water/sanitation sector. Through strong participation of the key stakeholders, a team of researchers with their local counterparts in Uganda developed and field tested a performance measurement framework. According to an evaluation by the international donor community, policy makers and managers in the sector, the past three annual water/sanitation sector performance reports compiled using the performance measurement framework have depicted a progressive qualitative improvement

Effective water safety management of piped water networks in low-income urban settlements

Spiralling low-income settlements are a big challenge to urban water utilities of developing countries. To extend and maintain water services to these settlements, urban water utilities need to develop innovative solutions for overcoming various physical/technical, institutional, structural/legal and financial/economic constraints associated with these informal areas. This paper draws from documented pilot projects of implementing community-managed Water Safety Plans (WSPs) in various developing countries, and synthesises necessary ingredients for effective implementation of WSPs in low-income urban settlements. Urban water utilities need to partner with community members, but the former should keep a facilitating/overseeing role, given the overly technical nature of WSPs. The terms of the partnership should be mutually agreed and well documented; the utility should allow full participation of the relevant community members in the overall Operation and Maintenance (O&M) plan for the low-income settlement, in order to enhance community ownership of the water supply system, and continuously develop the capacity of relevant community members. The relevant community members should be facilitated, through participatory approaches, to develop bespoke community-based WSPs along with simple monitoring tools. Implementing community-managed WSPs will be easier and more effective if O&M systems and community management approaches are already institutionalised within the water utility

Public-private delivery of urban water services in Africa

The period between 1990 and 1997 saw a record growth in the number of public–private partnerships (PPPs) for provision of water/sewerage services in developing countries. Nonetheless, PPPs have not fared well in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounted for 80% of the PPP contracts that attracted disputes or were cancelled between 1990 and 2004. Since the 1980s, management contracts between international water operators and utilities in Africa have been promoted by the World Bank and other multi-international agencies as a model that could boost management capacity in utilities of developing countries and lead to improved effectiveness and efficiency. The present study draws upon empirical data from Kampala, Uganda and uses it as a case study to show that, on the whole, these expectations were not fulfilled. It is demonstrated that the performance improvements of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation, the utility in Kampala, were not as high as expected when it was twice managed by different international operators. On the other hand, the corporation has made impressive performance improvements under the current public management model. Conclusions have been drawn from the case study on what are the drivers of performance improvement in the water utilities of developing countries

Collaboration with HEIs: a key capacity building block for the Uganda water and sanitation public sector

The capacity of public service staff in developing countries is crucial for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Literature from developed countries shows that, working with higher education institutions (HEIs), industries have improved their human resource capacity through continuing professional development. This paper reports on research carried out in Uganda to examine the drivers of and barriers to collaboration between the water/sanitation public sector and HEIs. The results show that, whereas stakeholders from both sides consider collaboration to be important for achieving their corporate goals, there is a need to overcome organizational constraints and strengthen existing collaborations, which are largely perceived as weak and/or informal

Water services regulation for the urban poor: Zambia

There is rapid urbanisation in developing countries, where UN Habitat estimates that 80% of the world urban population will live by 2030. Urban water utilities are facing a challenge of continuously extending services to the rapidly expanding towns and cities, particularly so when most of the population growth is absorbed by slums, leading to an increasing number of the urban poor. Economic regulation of urban water service providers is therefore necessary to guard the equity principle and promote universal water service coverage that is an overarching target for achievement of UN millennium development goals (MDGs). This paper reports on research carried out in Lusaka, Zambia, one of seven case studies in a global research study on whether the needs of the urban poor have been incorporated, as a primary duty of regulation. The study found that NWASCO, the Zambian regulator, has made commendable progress towards ‘good regulation’ principles of independence, accountability, consistency, transparency, proportionality and equitable targeting of interventions. Clearly, there are good lessons for policy makers in other developing countries to learn from the way regulation structures, systems and procedures were set up in Zambia, and how they have evolved over time. Increased consumer participation will make the regulatory regime more pro-poor

Using economic instruments for water demand management: the case of Gros Islet, Saint Lucia

The issue of water scarcity in developing countries has come to the forefront as a result of increasing levels of water consumption due to population growth and diminished precipitation brought about by the effects of climate change. Of particular concern is the situation of small island developing states where the impacts of water scarcity will be more pronounced. This case study investigated the effectiveness of the water tariff as an economic instrument for water demand management in the urban municipality of Gros Islet, Saint Lucia. Survey results compared with administrative data from the water utility show that the water tariff was effective, to a smaller extent, at reducing household water consumption with the help of public education and awareness campaigns. External economic pressures brought to bear by the Value Added Tax also contributed. Given the high consumers’ willingness to conserve and pay for water, it is recommended that the water utility carries out a detailed study with the objective of designing a tariff structure that better reflects marginal cost pricing

Using economic instruments for water resources management in the city of the future: case studies from Spain and Uganda

Rapid increase in global population coupled with escalating climate change has led to a serious water scarcity in the world. The pressure on the water resources is higher in urban areas, where, according to UN Habitat, over 50% of the world’s population have lived since 2007. Hence, urban water managers and policy makers need to adopt water efficiency measures to cope with the increasing water demand and manage available water resources in a sustainable manner. This paper reports on findings of water demand management studies conducted under the EU-funded SWITCH research project on ‘sustainable water management for the city of the future’. Using the case of Zaragoza City (Spain), the paper shows how a tariff structure and other economic instruments have been used to encourage water use efficiency at the endusers’ premises, resulting into a 14% reduction in the city’s water demand between 1996 and 2004, although the population increased by 6.3% in the same period. The study also used 2006/07 billing data from the Uganda’s main urban utility to model a water conserving tariff for domestic consumers in Kampala City. Results from the model show that using a demandresponsive tariff structure, 15% of water produced in Kampala could be conserved, and the utility’s revenue increased by 8%. Water conservation tariffs will have greater social equity benefits in cities of developing countries where water services may be under-priced, intermittent and unfairly distributed in favour of higher income households. Water conserved could be redistributed to the poorer settlements of the cities