Private Sector Participation in Water Supply and Sanitation in Urban Areas

To achieve the Millennium Development Goals, all partners (public, private, NGOs) must be engaged for improving and expanding the water supply and sanitation services. Yet, high transaction costs, unclear role allocation and lack of trust and commitment put Private Sector Participation (PSP) at risk. The initiative “Policy Principles and Implementation Guidelines for Private Sector Participation in Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation” contributes to equitable, effective, ecological and efficient PSP projects. Based on a multi stakeholder process, the Policy Principles are offering an open and transparent framework for the negotiation of valid, widely accepted and action-oriented solutions, while the Implementation Guidelines focus on success factors for building partnerships on the operational level.

Download Full-text

Private Sector Participation in Water Supply and Sanitation in Latin America

10.1596/0-8213-3219-8 ◽

1995 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Emanuel Idelovitch ◽

Klas Ringskog

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Private Sector ◽

Water Supply ◽

Private Sector Participation ◽

Water Supply And Sanitation

Download Full-text

Private Operation of Water Utilities and Public Asset Holding Companies – Winning Combination or Losing Battle?

Competition and Regulation in Network Industries ◽

10.1177/178359170700800202 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 117-163

Author(s):

Michel Kerf ◽

Elisa Muzzini

Keyword(s):

Private Sector ◽

Water Supply ◽

Holding Companies ◽

Sanitation Services ◽

Private Sector Participation ◽

Private Participation ◽

Asset Holding ◽

Pros And Cons ◽

Exclusive Or ◽

Water Supply And Sanitation

Several African governments, like others throughout the world, have been experimenting for some time with private sector participation in the provision of water supply and sanitation services. Some of these governments, though not all, decided to establish asset holding companies, in an effort to facilitate the transition to private participation. Those asset holding companies are state-owned entities entrusted with exclusive or partial responsibility for one or more of the following tasks: (i) owning infrastructure assets; (ii) planning and financing investments in the water supply and sanitation sector; (Hi) regulating the activities of the private operator; and (iv) promoting public acceptance of private sector participation in the sector. The present paper discusses a number of African experiences with private sector participation in water supply and sanitation – some of which involved the creation of such asset holding companies and some of which did not – in an attempt to shed light on the pros and cons of establishing asset holding companies in the context of water supply and sanitation reform. The paper concludes that asset holding companies might have a comparative advantage only with respect to one of the functions listed above – the planning and financing of investments – and then only in some specific circumstances.

Download Full-text