The water sector in the last 20 years has undergone radical paradigm shifts arising
from the crisis of global proportions that have characterized the sector, prompting many
international fora, including the Dublin conference in January 1992. One of the responses from
academic institutions to this crisis is the development of computer-based predictive tools for
better and more accurate prediction of the variables that affect water use and management. In the
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, attempts
have been made to develop software to aid planning, management, and decision making in the
water sector. Two of such software are Wadessy - a water distribution network design software,
and a groundwater flow modelling software GEMFLOW that is based on the Green element
method (GEM). Although their engines are quite robust and have been applied in field studies in
Botswana and Zimbabwe, and compare favourably with published models, their elegance in
terms of graphical user interface (GUI) is still rudimentary. The cost for their development has
been mainly in the training of postgraduate students who have assisted in their development.
Industry uptake has been very limited, which is one of the reasons why their GUIs are still
rudimentary. With greater investment into the development and marketing of these and many
other software, the potential exists to have “made-in-Africa” software with capabilities
comparable, if not better than, those developed in more advanced countries. This paper reports
on these software, compares these with similar initiatives in more advanced countries, and
discusses the challenges in development, funding, and uptake by industry. The experiences
described herein are most likely to be similar with other software development initiatives in sub-
Saharan Africa.
