The final report of Water Operators Partnerships Africa Utility Performance Assessment is now available. As part of the Water Operators' Partnership-Africa program, a self-assessment and benchmarking exercise was carried out by the Water and Sanitation Program in Africa (WSP-AF) among about 134 African utilities engaged in water supply and sanitation services and its final report is now available. These assessments and the ensuing regional workshops are critical steps in the operationalization of the Water Operators Partnerships program for Africa. The partnership is built on the premise that well-performing utilities will step forward and emerge as leaders and that the needs of the less well-performing utilities will be met in a professional and sustainable manner. The initial step to promote and develop the WOP-Africa initiative was the Nairobi (December 2006) workshop which endorsed the idea and mandated UN-HABITAT and the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) to pursue its preparation. The next step was the Johannesburg Workshop (April 2007) which brought together about 100 water utility executives representing 70 water utilities in 30 African countries. The Johannesburg Workshop defined the principles and governance structure for the WOP-Africa program and outlined the action plan for its operationalization including the continent-wide benchmarking exercise which is the object of this report. The present synthesis report confirms that there are African utilities whose operating standards put them among the top 25 percent world-wide. It also shows that a large number of utilities have considerable room for improvement. Consequently, there is high potential for WOPs and progress through peer support and networking as utilities themselves are best placed to show how to move up the performance ladder. This exercise was undertaken with financial support from the DfID of the UK. Financial contribution in kind was also provided by the Global Water Operators' Partnership Alliance. |
