Ethiopia: World Bank provides US$ 80 million to improve access to safe and sustainable water and sanitation services

The World Bank has approved an additional credit of US$80 million for the Water Supply and Sanitation Project (WSSP) in Ethiopia, which has been implemented since November 2004. The objective of the original project, which remains unchanged, is increased access to sustainable water supply and sanitation services, for rural and urban users, through improved capacity of stakeholders in the sector.

“Approximately 1.5 million rural people have benefited from improved water supply and sanitation services through capacity building in 204 woredas and construction of 3,364 rural water supply schemes,” said Yitbarek Tessema, the World Bank’s Task Team Leader for the project.

Similarly 150,000 urban residents have obtained access to improved water supply and sanitation services from increased production as well as improved distribution and enhanced performance of local operators. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) is currently co-financing the project with GB£ 70 million through a Bank-managed multi-donor trust fund.

While the rural component of the project has been substantially completed, its urban component has encountered a financing gap. The US$ 80 million additional financing is to cover the costs associated with the financing gap in the Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Component of the project. This is due to (i) higher than expected per capita costs for piped systems; (ii) larger than expected populations in participating towns; (iii) the shifting of project funds to the Global food crisis project; and (iv) the earlier change in the disbursement policy (which allowed financing of the taxes, and hence increased IDA contributions to the project cost).

The World Bank has approved the additional financing considering that the resource available for the urban component can only partially fund construction of water supply facilities in the 50 towns originally targeted by the project. Within the original project objective and following the same implementation arrangement, the additional financing will be used to cover the financial gap in these 50 towns to meet the original project objective. The project will be implemented by ministries, regional bureaus and woreda offices of water, health and education until March 31, 2013.

For more information go to Water Supply and Sanitation Project page .

Source: World Bank, 31 Mar 2010

Ghana: World Bank, AfDB initiative supports water sector

The World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) has initiated discussions with the managements of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL) on how to find a comprehensive and sustainable solution to problem facing urban water supply in Ghana.

Mr. Ishac Diwan, World Bank Country Director said that the World Bank has moved from the stage of exploring the possibility of supporting the sector to actually starting the process towards finding a lasting solution to the problems facing the sector.

“We began a brainstorming session today, during which we identified specific areas where support will be needed to bring a more comprehensive solution to bear on the urban water sector,” he said.

Mr. Diwan, however, pointed out that the AfDB’s involvement is only at the exploratory stage.

He said at the brainstorming session, it emerged that the main challenges facing the sector are those of inadequate water production, obsolete transmission and distribution systems and huge losses being made due to leakages and piracy.

The World Bank in 2006 provided a grant of $150 million to the Government of Ghana under which AVRL was competitively awarded a five-year management contract to help reduce loses in potable water and water revenue by 25 per cent.

The AVRL contract will end in 2011, but the World Bank, by this new development, has indicated its continuous interest in supporting the sector in a more comprehensive manner.

Mr. Diwan proposed that in order to deal effectively with the challenges, there is the need to map out a plan that will address them in parallel by working on the expansion of the production capacity, rehabilitation of the distribution networks and collecting of the revenue at the same time.

He said the expansion of the water supply system have not been able to catch up with the fast moving residential and industrial development in the country.

Mr. Diwan said part of the problem is because the water production and supply plan of the country was last updated in 1990 and has outlived its usefulness.

After the brainstorming session, the management of GWCL and AVRL took the officials of the WB and AfDB on a familiarisation and fact finding tour of the Kpong Water Works.

Mr. Charles Brobbey, the Production Manager at the Kpong Station, told the delegation that even though the plant takes 53 million gallons of raw water a day, it produces 36 million gallons for both urban and rural Accra.

Meanwhile the Chinese Exim Bank has expressed readiness to invest over $200 million into the expansion of Kpong headwork’s and raise its production capacity by at least 40 million gallons over the next five years.

Source: GNA / Ghana Government. 18 Dec 2009

Ghana: Ghana Water Company under fire

The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) is under fire from both the government and anti-privatisation activists for poor service delivery and corruption. In the wake of this criticism, Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL), the private operator which supports GWCL since 2006 as part of a World Bank-supported project, has launched an effort to collect unpaid bills. The World Bank maintains that the project is making significant progress.

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The Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing has constituted a committee to review the management contract between Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL).

The review exercise was prompted by the problems hindering water delivery, especially in urban areas, and the implementation of the US$ 80 million World Bank sponsored Urban Water Project between GWCL and AVRL. (See also Wikipedia – Water privatization in Ghana).

Water minister Albert Abongo said the misunderstanding between the AVRL and the GWCL about their respective responsibilities in regard to water operations, revenue management and maintenance of systems was having a debilitating effect on water.

Mr Abongo said government was not pleased with the performance of the expatriate management operator, AVRL, which was contracted by the previous government to improve management practices at GWCL.

He said it was too early at this stage to recommend termination of the contract.

Mr Abongo said a steering committee to be chaired by him, would help to address inefficiencies that would be identified by the review committee.

Answering a question as to whether the public should expect a shake-up in the management of GWCL, Mr Abongo said a change in attitude rather than a massive clean-up of personnel would reverse problems facing the company.

He asked the GWCL to tackle the diversion of company property by personnel for their personal use, which he said remained a major drawback on the operations of the company.

Mr Abongo said some staff of GWCL also connived with the public to engage in illegal water connections, depriving the company of revenue.

The National Coalition against Privatisation of Water (NCAP) is considering dragging GWCL and AVRL to court for what it describes as poor service delivery, if all the petitions and interventions it has brought against the two companies fail to yield the desired results.

The group has already petitioned the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), and was in the process of sending another petition to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), to investigate AVRL’s inability to meet their performance targets, as well as the claim that they made about GH¢30million [US$ 21 million] profit, which has been denied by the GCWL.

One of the key issues NCAP has raised about the management contract between the GWCL and AVRL is the reduction of Non-Revenue Water (NRW) by 5% each year.

Per the contract estimation, this should have been 40% in 2008, but the NCAP claims that it is 51.7%, that is 11.7% higher than the target.

According to the NCAP there has been only a 2% increase in production, mainly due to expansion works at Dalum (Tamale), Sekyere Hemang and Bafiakrom in the Central Region, with only a 1% increase in installed capacity.

The AVRL appears to be taking the criticism to heart by announcing that debtors will be disconnected and prosecuted if they don’t settle their arrears. It is offering a GH¢20 [US$ 14] reward for all “who divulge [via a Toll Free number] information on unscrupulous and anti-social citizens who indulge in malpractices like illegal connections, self reconnection, the use of in-line suction pumps.”

The World Bank remains upbeat about the Ghana Urban Water Project. In the FY09 status of report of projects in Ghana, published in October 2009, the Bank says:

“Significant progress has been made towards achieving the objective of restoring long-term financial stability, viability and sustainability of the Ghana Water Company Limited by: (a) having already reached the target of recovering 100% of the operation and maintenance costs from the utility revenues; (b) having surpassed the efficiency target of less than 10 employees per 1,000 connections; and (c) having promulgated the National Water Policy.”

Source : Accra Daily Mail / allAfrica.com, 19 Oct 2009 ; Ghanaian Chronicle / allAfrica.com, 16 Oct 2009 ; Peace FM Online, 02 Nov 2009

Lesotho, Maseru: new World Bank project to provide reliable water supply

The Kingdom of Lesotho signed a US$25 million financing agreement signed with the World Bank (with a US$8.5 million grant component) for a project that will provide reliable water supply for the people and industry in Maseru, the capital city and adjoining areas.

[...] “The Government of Lesotho is committed to meeting the challenge of water security as an essential element of our sustainable development strategy,” said Hon. Dr. Timothy Thahane, Lesotho’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning, at the signing ceremony. “Providing reliable water supply to our industries which account for about 40 percent of the gross domestic product will help us to secure economic growth. And as we know potable water is vital for reducing childhood illnesses.”

Lesotho has achieved strong results in the water sector, and over 80 percent of its population has access to safe drinking water. The national utility, Lesotho Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), established in 1991 is efficiently run and has kept its operating costs below income.

“The provision of 75,000 cubic meters (m3) per day of additional treated water will enable Lesotho to meet domestic and industrial requirement in the medium-term,” said Ruth Kagia, World Bank Country Director for Lesotho, speaking at the signing ceremony. “The World Bank is pleased to support Lesotho’s efforts to harness this critical resource through a multi-donor program.”

The project will support WASA’s efforts to improve water supplies and expand coverage, both in Maseru and other fast-growing urban centers such as Mazenod, Morija, Roma, and Teyateyaneng. When the project is completed in 2013, water supply coverage in Maseru is expected to reach 90 percent, and sanitation coverage is expected to increase from the low level of 15 percent in Maseru and six percent in the centers to 20 percent and 10 percent respectively.

The project is led by Lesotho’s Metolong Authority, with the World Bank providing technical support including in the areas of operational and fiduciary safeguards. The bulk of financing is being contributed by Lesotho’s development partners such as the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), Kuwait Fund, Millennium Challenge Corporation, OPEC Fund for International Development, and Saudi Fund for Development. The European Development Fund supported project preparation, and the Government of South Africa is finalizing its support for the project.

The project is part of the larger, US$284 million Metolong Dam and Water Supply Program (MDWSP) which is the Government of Lesotho’s strategic effort to achieve water security in the 21st Century.

For more information see the Water Sector Improvement APL Phase II: Metolong Dam and Water Supply project page.

Source: World Bank, 02 Oct 2009

Uganda: water sector clogged by corruption, US$ 32.5 million lost over last 5 years

The policy debate on establishing an independent water regulator has re-emerged after the sector woke up to a survey finding last week that between $5 million and $10 million meant to improve access to safe water for drinking in Uganda is lost to corruption annually.

A World Bank sponsored baseline survey on integrity in Uganda’s water supply and sanitation sector found that between 10 and 20 per cent of money given to contractors is spent on kickbacks, which significantly reduces the extent to which the contract can deliver on improving access to safe water and sanitation.

Some 54 per cent of private water operators said they paid 10 per cent of the value of the contract to win it, while 46 per cent of urban consumers confessed to paying extra charges to be connected to the water supply network.

Going by the fact that national budgetary allocation to the water sector is an average of about Ush130 billion ($65 million) over the past five years, the country could have lost about Ush65 billion ($32.5 million) to corruption in that time.

[...] To address outright corruption as well as influence peddling by politicians, some stakeholders are advocating an independent regulator, and introduction of integrity pacts between the government and contractors, to be monitored by civil society.

The idea of establishing such a body first emerged in 2003 after a series of corruption cases — notably the valley dams project, which former vice president Specioza Kazibwe was accused of mismanaging leading to the loss of Ush4 billion ($2 million) to the taxpayer. Corruption at the time was so pronounced in the sector that some donors like the Swedish government withheld funds.

The Ministry of Water and Environment believes in the concept and indeed sent officials on a study tour to Germany to learn from the experience there.

However, the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NW&SC) argues that a regulatory body would only increase water tariffs in the likely event that players under regulation fund the watchdog’s budget.

Besides, there is no competition in that segment of the sector meaning that the regulator’s eye will be fixed on NW&SC only.

“We have set up a unit within the ministry already to try out the regulatory idea we learnt from Germany because they have one of the best water regulation systems in the world,” said State Minister for Water Jennifer Namuyangu.

An independent regulator would ensure adherence to procedures in procurement — where most corruption cases were reported; operations and management. It could also set performance targets and approve tariffs for the water utility, which is used to doing these things on its own.

Currently, regulation is done by performance contracts only, drafted with anti-corruption components, although these are understood to be ineffective because the unit that awards a contract to, for instance construct boreholes in the countryside, is the same party that supervises the work, and is responsible for the assets.

With pressure to perform from the top, there is a tendency for supervisors to appraise positively even when work is shoddy.

The management of NW&SC is instead advocating a regulatory framework with guidelines to be implemented by a select committee and supported by the existing accountability institutions such as the ombudsman and the procurement regulator.

However, the national water utility, although making a surplus, dedicates most of its internal income on recurrent expenditure while money for development spending is usually provided by capital injections from the government and donors.

In 2007 a process was begun for the could to convert a debt of about $90 million the company owed it into equity, so that the money can be invested in water infrastructure rather than paid to the exchequer.

Observers [...] point out that existing regulatory authorities have not exactly reduced the amount of corruption or improved efficiency in their respective sectors.

The World Bank survey was commissioned following the Inspectorate of Government’s National Integrity Survey in 2008, which recommended that sector studies on corruption be done.

Unlike some sectors, water does not have a regulatory authority, leaving regulation to be done by contracts only, and some bureaucrats and development partners think that its establishment will reduce corruption and improve efficiency.

At a meeting where results from the survey were presented, a notable recommendation from the consultant was to establish an independent regulatory authority with urgency.

Source: Malingha Doya, East African / allAfrica.com, 07 Sep 2009

At the 2009 World Water Week in Stockholm, Donal O’Leary Sr. Advisor, Transparency International (TI)
and Maria Jacobsson Associate Expert, WSP-Africa, gave a presentation on the Status of Water Integrity
Studies in Uganda. They mention that the findings were to presented at a Water Integrity Workshop in Kampala on 2-3 September 2009.

See also the case study “Uganda: Citizens Action for Accountable WATSAN Services in the Slums of Kawempe – Kampala City” published in March 2009 by the Water Integrity Network (WIN).

Mozambique: positive results claimed for delegated water management

The Mozambican Minister of Public Works, Felicio Zacarias, said on 29 June 2009 that the reforms in water supply that began in 1995, and which have led to delegating the management of urban water supply in major cities to private consortia, have produced positive results. Investments in water systems have lead to an increase in the number of people they serve, and in the number of hours of supply per day. Zacarias was speaking in Maputo during the launch of a “Case Study on Delegated Management of Water Supply in Mozambique“, sponsored by the World Bank.

The average period of supply in the area under delegated management is 18 hours a day, and in some cases it reaches 24 hours a day. In the urban areas covered by delegated management, 54 per cent of the population now has access to clean drinking water.

Many challenges still remain, including the need to ensure improved levels of satisfaction among consumers and expanding water systems to peri-urban areas.

The World Bank study covers the period 2000-2007. Initial setbacks led to the main partner in the “Aguas de Mocambique” (Waters of Mozambique) consortium, the French company SAUR, to drop out. By 2007, the initial problems had been solved. The success of the reforms is attributed to the government’s commitment, the creation of a separate public body that owns the main water assets (FIPAG), and of a non-political regulatory body, and the continuity and professionalism of leading figures in the sector, despite the change in management.

The study recommends that the government provide reliable and audited data to all potential private operators in the water sector so that they can make a realistic assessment of the financial risks. It urges that local private operators should be promoted, in order to minimize the costs of delegated management and ensure its long term sustainability.

Read the World Bank case study here.

Source: Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique / allAfrica.com, 30 Jun 2009

Uganda: Toilet Emptying Needs Investors

THERE are investment opportunities in emptying of pit latrines in Kampala and other urban areas, the World Bank‘s senior water and sanitation specialist has observed. “The bank carried out a study in Kampala and found that Kampala residents generate 800,000 litres of feaces per day (800 cubic meters) but the capacity to empty and dispose them of is only 230.000 litres,” Samuel Dawuna Mutono explained.

“This means more local people can invest in emptying pit latrines but the biggest challenge we discovered is that most of these toilets are not accessible, while some people are too poor to pay for the service,” he said. Mutono said only 8% of the country’s population is connected to the sewage system. “So how about the 92%? That is why the bank has supported this business linkage programme aimed at training members of the private emptiers association to improve their services.”

This was at the signing of a memorandum of understanding for a business linkage programme between the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), Enterprise Uganda and the Private Emptiers Association at the Kampala Serena Hotel.

[...] “SMEs [small and medium enterprises] lack documented long-term visions, strategic business plans, adequate capitalisation, while others are involved in unscrupulous practices and have poor customer care,” Enterprise Uganda’s director of business advisory services, Rosemary Mutyabule said. “That is why the association will benefit much from the training,” Mutyabule said. 

Source: David Muwanga, New Vision / allAfrica.com, 25 May 2009

Guinea-Bissau: Instability deprives people of clean water

With 80 percent of the Guinea Bissau capital’s water contaminated with harmful bacteria, residents are used to outbreaks of cholera and other deadly diarrhoeal diseases, but donors say they can fund major infrastructure projects only if stability can be guaranteed. [A recent cholera outbreak] killed 225 people and infected some 14,000, most of them in the capital Bissau. [...] Diarrhoeal diseases constitute one of the main causes of child mortality and morbidity in Guinea-Bissau, which has the world’s fifth-highest level of child mortality with almost one in five children dying before age five.

[...] “The country has been experiencing continuing instability,” said . “This doesn’t allow putting in place large-scale infrastructure systems. To attract big donors, you need to guarantee a long period of stability…You can’t lay water pipes in one month.”

[...] Most Bissauan families draw water from shallow wells they build themselves – often constructed dangerously close to latrines – with population growth in the capital exacerbating the situation, [Silvia Luciani, head of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Guinea-Bissau] told IRIN.

Bernardino dos Santos, director of water association Regional Centre for Low-cost Water and Sanitation (CREPA), said 80 percent of the city wells are contaminated with harmful bacteria.

[...] The problem is the government is poor, donors say. [...] International donors cover most civil servants’ salaries in Guinea-Bissau, Antongiulio Marin, head of infrastructure for the European Commission, told IRIN.

Payment systems for water and electricity supply are in place but do not work properly, says Cesario Sa, director of Water and Electricity services (EAGB) in Bissau. “Collecting revenue for water is not possible in many cases because we do not have the financial resources or capacity to do so.”

[...] “If you go to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources [which manages water supply] you will find little to no equipment and officials who are not motivated and hardly paid; who have no telephones, computers or electricity; who are educated to a low standard and hardly trained; and who have very little management expertise,” Marin told IRIN. When donors do engage, he said, they have to cover everything, down to civil servants’ commuting costs.

The EC works with NGOs Médicos del Mundo and the Spanish Red Cross to build solar-powered water points and pumps in and around Bafat and Biombo, 80km and 25km from the capital, respectively, and to support rural community water management committees.

But two severe cholera epidemics in four years have propelled donors to increase water-infrastructure investments. The EC just signed a US$3.9-million project to boost the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry’s water management capacity, and a further $3.9 million to continue rural water support.

The World Bank is about to start building water reservoirs in Bissau and 24km of water pipes at a cost of nearly $6 million, according to Joao Antonio da Silva, technical assistant for EAGB, which works with the World Bank. The construction of two reservoirs for Luanda and Bairro de Ajuda, on the outskirts of the capital, has just been completed, he said.

Meanwhile NGOs and aid agencies, including CREPA, Médicos del Mundo and UNICEF, continue to fill in some of the water supply gaps around the country by building closed wells, water pumps and latrines in schools and villages.

[...] Bissau resident Jose Antonio Borges told IRIN the population cannot afford more delays. “Guinea-Bissau has been facing an electricity crisis since 1998. But this year it is the water crisis that is worst of all because it affects everyone across the country. We can accept the energy crisis, but without water, we cannot live.”

Source: IRIN, 31 Mar 2009

Ghana: World Bank invites civil society to monitor its water and sanitation projects

The World Bank will provide up to US$ 1.2 billion in interest-free loans to Ghana over the next three years, and has launched a landmark initiative that challenges civil society organizations and other citizens’ groups to help deepen transparency and accountability by monitoring the implementation of Bank-funded projects in the country.

[...] The target sectors for this future lending, according to the Bank’s Country Director for Ghana, Ishac Diwan, are water and sanitation, agriculture and fisheries, energy, natural resource management, transport and budget support.

The Bank, which is one of Ghana’s leading development partners, indicated its readiness to assist the newly-elected Ghanaian government in any way possible to minimize the impact of the global financial meltdown and economic crisis.

At a meeting with the Ghanaian President, Prof John Evans Atta-Mills, Ms Ezekwesili [...] reiterated the importance of citizens’ participation in the development processes in complementing government efforts in finding solutions to Ghana’s macroeconomic challenges.

The Ghanaian President on his part noted that an important ingredient in dealing with macro economic problems is transparency and the need for citizens to know the true state of the economy and what the government is doing to solve the problems.

[...] During the visit, the Bank, in collaboration with a group of civil society organizations launched a new Social Accountability Initiative to monitor Bank-financed projects and programs of their choice. Three umbrella organizations – National Coalition of NGOs in Waste Management (NACONWAM), Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) and a group led by the Integrated Social Development Center (ISODEC) – decided to monitor the Second Urban Environmental Sanitation Project (for NACONWAM), the Urban Water Project (for CONIWAS) and the Poverty Reduction Support Credits (for ISODEC).

Source:  World Bank, 11 Mar 2009

Tanzania: Councils Get Sh62 Million for Water Schemes

“Local municipalities will spend Sh62 million from the 2008/9 Budget on water projects following the World Bank’s delay to implement pledged water projects in the country.

The World Bank’s project, which will be implemented in 10 villages of each of the country’s districts, have been delayed due to lack of funds, Water and Irrigation deputy minister Engineer Christopher Chiza said”.

Read more: The Citizen (Dar es Salaam) / allAfrica.com, 01 July 2008