Water operator partnerships as a model to achieve the Millenium Development Goals for water supply? Lessons from four cities in Mozambique

Gp Coppel,K Schwartz

doi:10.4314/wsa.v37i4.17

Abstract

In the void left by the declining popularity of public-private partnerships, the concept of ‘water operator partnerships’ (WOPs) has increasingly been promoted as an alternative for improving water services provision in developing countries. This paper assesses the potential of such partnerships as a ‘model’ for contributing to the MDGs, by focusing on 4 water utilities in Mozambique. Although, the study found these partnerships to be successful, it is more sceptical about the potential for this type of water operator partnership to significantly contribute towards achieving the MDGs. The main reason for this is that the replicability of the partnership-model studied in Mozambique was found to be quite limited. The case presented in this article highlights 3 main lessons for water operator partnerships in the water services sector. First, the availability of investment funds is a crucial component of a partnership. Without access to such funds the impact of such a partnership is likely to be limited. Secondly, the level of commitment to the partnership needs to be high if it is to be successful. This commitment is likely to take shape in the form of both financial commitment as well as commitment of time and effort of the organisations involved. Thirdly, even if the partnership is a success, the question of how sustainable the achieved performance gains are remains a point of concern. All in all, although we acknowledge the success achieved by the studied partnership, the findings have made us hesitant about the potential for replicating this ‘model’ at a large scale. Keywords: partnerships, Millennium Development Goals, water supply, Mozambique

Highlights

The water services sector in most developing countries has long suffered from poor performance of its public water utilities
In the 2 sections, we introduce the water services sector in Mozambique and provide a brief overview of the partnership between Vitens Evides International and FIPAG
Based on the key performance indicators and the interviews conducted during fieldwork, the water operator partnership between Vitens Evides International and FIPAG for 4 cities in southern Mozambique has been a success

Summary

Introduction

The water services sector in most developing countries has long suffered from poor performance of its public water utilities. The poor performance of water utilities has led to a situation in which 1.2 billion people lack access to adequate water supply services and 2.4 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation services (WHO/UNICEF, 2006). The Millenium Development Goal (MDG) targets for water supply services state that the population without access to adequate water services should be halved by 2015. A strong institutional framework is believed to be a prerequisite for achieving the MDG targets on water and sanitation. Sound sector policies are required to lead the drive to achievement of the targets, and a strong institutional framework would provide better access to (international) investment capital (Bourguinon et al, 2008). ‘appropriate’ technologies are put forward as a means of achieving the MDG targets (Brown and Holcombe, 2004; Mara et al, 2007; Mara and Alabaster, 2008)

Objectives

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion