1 / 17

WOP-Africa Benchmarking Exercise: Overview & Link to GRUBS

This overview provides information on the WOP-Africa benchmarking exercise, including its rationale, methodology, and results. It emphasizes the framework and types of findings. The article also includes a link to GRUBS (Water Operators Partnerships), a regional program that aims to accelerate improvements in the performance of water supply and sanitation operators in Africa through knowledge exchange and support partnerships.

curleye
Download Presentation

WOP-Africa Benchmarking Exercise: Overview & Link to GRUBS

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. WOP-Africa Benchmarking Exercise: Overview & Link to GRUBS Vivian Castro, WSP-AF Nairobi, Kenya – 24 November, 2008

  2. Outline • WOP-Africa • Overview of the benchmarking exercise • Rationale • Methodology • Results (emphasis on framework & types of findings) • Summary and Conclusions • Link to GRUBS

  3. Water Operators Partnerships • WOP is a joint, regional program of AFWA and IWA-ESAR • Goal is to accelerate improvements in the performance of WSS operators through more intense and systematic knowledge exchange (including support partnerships between operators) • Assumption is that there are many examples on the continent worth learning from • Secretariat will be hosted by RAND Water

  4. Rationale for the benchmarking activity • Assist utilities to identify their strengths and weaknesses • Identify best practices under the WOP-Africa priority themes (MIS, services to the poor, HR Development, etc..) • Shift the conversation from ‘what is wrong’ to ‘how to improve’ • Uncover potential and strategic partnerships for improving utility performance

  5. Methodology… • Utility Self-Assessment Questionnaire (USAQ), adapted from IB-Net and SEAWUN assessment tools • Two dimensions: (i) assessment of performance, strengths and needs in the WOP priority themes; (ii) assessment of the potential for peer-support partnerships • Sources: Actual performance data obtained from multiple sources, including IB-Net and National Regulators

  6. ….Methodology • Design phase —consulted select utilities and asked for feedback on the questionnaire’s design • Data collection--unclear or suspect data verified with the utility • data reported as received from the utilities unless suspicious (i.e. 0% NRW); IBNET assisted with data cleanup • Data verification-- 3 sub-regional workshops to share and verify the data [Kampala (June), Dakar (Sept), Maseru (Oct)]

  7. No of Utilities & Sources of Data

  8. Dataset - 2004,2005,2006 • quantitative & qualitative information in 7 areas • financial • technical • human resources • infrastructure development • customer care • services to the poor • experience with peer support partnerships

  9. Analytical Framework • Ranking shows where each utility lies in relation to its peers • Lowest value within the top quartile (25%) of all utilities taken as best practice target • Overall efficiency indicator (OEI) – compares volume of water for which the utility collects revenue to the total volume it produces • Identification of potential learning areas

  10. (1) Sub regional comparisons Presentation of findings (i)

  11. Presentation of Findings (ii):Proportion of Utilities In “Best Performer” Groups

  12. Presentation of findings (iii)

  13. Presentation of findings (iv) Operating cost coverage ratio (OCCR)- defined as the ratio of total annual billed revenues to total annual operating expenses

  14. Major challenge facing utilities is expanding coverage • Inefficiencies a major cause of poor access to water services • Real potential lies in increasing efficiency in the already existing systems (i.e. reducing losses and improving revenue collection) • The good news is that Africa is not entirely short of well-performing utilities to be emulated by those still lagging behind Summary & Conclusions

  15. Limited availability of reliable performance data across the region presents a significant challenge to any performance improvement through partnerships and benchmarking • Indicators tend to portray an incomplete picture of a utility’s performance • How to do this on a regular and systematic basis Challenges

  16. Geo-referencing: questions for discussion • Define the audience(s): Utilities? Governments? Consumers? Researchers? Donors? • Define the goal(s): Better informed consumers? Sharing of best practices? Helping donors target their assistance? Providing governments with a planning tool? • How do we make the data vibrant (not static) and really add value? • Connect existing data with maps but also add search engine – ‘national hygiene policies in Asia’ or ‘examples of performance contracts in water sector’? • What other existing data sources do we want to utilize? (e.g. spatial data from utilities on network coverage)

More Related