PPP – policies, practices and problems in Ghana's urban water supply

Water Policy ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronika Fuest ◽  
Stefan A. Haffner
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Private Investment ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Urban Water Supply ◽  
Water Sector ◽  
External Donor ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Economic Trends ◽  
The Government

Since the beginning of the 1990s, comprehensive reforms of the Ghanaian water sector were initiated by the Bretton Woods Institutions. The Government of Ghana was obliged to restructure the sector by establishing regulatory bodies, opening the sector to private sector participation and separating responsibilities for urban water supply from rural water supply. The parastatal Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) was created to be solely in charge of urban water supply. In spite of external assistance, GWCL continued to suffer from massive financial, managerial and technical problems. The gap between supply and demand increased while demand for potable water in the cities was on the rise and the supply systems were degenerating. In order to introduce greater efficiency, two options for public–private partnerships (PPP) were developed and contested, over a period of 10 years. At first private companies were invited to take over the GWCL by a lease contract. Numerous factors, among them a massive anti-privatisation campaign and global economic trends unfavourable to private investment, particularly in the water sector, caused a comprehensive revision of the policy and the modification of the PPP programme from lease to short-term management contract with an ensuing affermage concession in 2004. This process was to be supported by external donor agencies substantially upgrading the water supply infrastructure. However, it seemed doubtful if the recent policy would lead to a sustainable system of urban water supply and substantial improvements in the supply situation of the poor. Patronage relations were not sufficiently addressed and alternative PPP options based on local potential had not been considered. The case of Ghana raises issues of imposed PPP policies that are not based on adequate information about local, national and international framework conditions.

Pipes and politics: a century of change and continuity in Kenyan urban water supply

2008 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Nilsson ◽  
Ezekiel Nyangeri Nyanchaga
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Urban Water Supply ◽  
Water Sector ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
The Public ◽  
Demographic Processes ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Service Standards

ABSTRACTMajor institutional reforms are currently under way to improve the performance of the public water sector in Kenya. However, a historical perspective is needed in order to achieve sustainable improvements that will also benefit the urban poor. This article seeks to provide such a perspective, applying a cross-disciplinary and socio-technical approach to urban water supply over the last century, in which institutions, organisations and technology are seen to interact with political, economic and demographic processes. Despite a series of reforms over the years, the socio-technical structure of the urban water sector in Kenya has shown a remarkable stability since the 1920s, and into the 1980s. However, the sustainability of the public service systems has been eroded since independence, due to changes in the institutional framework surrounding the systems, while exclusive standards and technological choices have essentially been preserved from the colonial era. Current sector reform must create incentives for addressing technology choices and service standards in order to provide public water services also for the urban poor.

scholarly journals Public-Private Partnership: Ghanaian Perspective of Urban Water Supply

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3.18) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Adam Andani Mohammed ◽  
Abdallah Mpawenimana Saidi
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Public Private Partnership ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Urban Water Supply ◽  
Private Partnership ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Government

In Ghana, tariff of utilities including water is put below cost recovery levels such that government is unable to cope with the challenges in water supply. As such, the government resorts to private partnership to fund the gaps in the urban water supply in the country. The study adopted an integrative multi-stage critical review of relevant literature on public-private partnership in urban water supply. As such articles published between 2006 and 2017 were selected by specific inclusion criteria. Relevant articles on the topic were identified through references and citations. The paper examines the status and trend of water supply, reforms and management of urban water supply in Ghana. The study found problems like poor water supply system, inadequate human and economic resources as well as poor resource allocations and urban water management. 

Improving cost recovery in urban water supply service: an experience from India

Water Policy ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 685-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. P. Jayaramu ◽  
B. Manoj Kumar ◽  
K. K. Prasanna Rashmi
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Cost Recovery ◽  
Twin Cities ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Urban Water Supply ◽  
Water Losses ◽  
Water Service ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Poor cost recovery, owing to inherent problems associated with intermittent water service, is common in the majority of towns and cities in India. The water supply in twin cities of Hubli–Dharwad, located in North Karnataka, India, was characterized by several issues such as water losses, poor service delivery, low cost recovery and low investments. Provision of water service to the twin cities was the responsibility of the Hubli–Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) until 2003. The municipal revenues were affected by the large gap between revenue and expenditure on account of poor performance of the water division of the corporation, which further impeded the efforts to improve water service. In 2003, due to deteriorating performance with regard to water supply, the Government of Karnataka transferred the responsibility for maintenance of the water service to the Karnataka Urban Water Supply & Drainage Board (KUWS&DB). The KUWS&DB along with the HDMC adopted a multi-pronged strategy to improve cost recovery. The sustained efforts for over a decade (2003–2013) led to a gradual increase in full cost recovery from about 12% in 2003 to 47% in 2013. This study examines the impact of the multi-pronged approach adopted for improving cost recovery in water supply in the twin cities.

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