Reforming Water Supply in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire : Mild Reform in a Turbulent Environment
Compared with other urban water systems in West Africa, the water supply system in Abidjan performs very well. Documenting the recent history of that system, the authors try to answer three questions: What motivated reform in a system that was already performing well? How and why did the reform affe...
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| Format: | Publications & Research |
| Language: | en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21444 |
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okr-10986-214442021-04-23T14:04:02Z Reforming Water Supply in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire : Mild Reform in a Turbulent Environment Ménard, Claude Clarke, George water supply systems private sector participation property rights institutional capacity human capital development political stability institutional reform institutional environment assessment contracting macroeconomic stability bidding autonomy of executing agencies service delivery payments systems labor productivity sewerage democratization water quality investment incentives commercial performance indicators pricing leases concessions boreholes central government city councils clay concession contract connection fee construction cost of water cross-subsidization cubic meter cubic meter of water cubic meters cut off debt disposal of wastewater economic conditions employment export groundwater groundwater resources households income investment expenditures investment program labor productivity local authorities maintenance contracts marginal cost municipal governments municipalities number of connections performance indicators piped water pit latrines population growth potable water private operator private participation programs property rights public utility public works pumping pumps safe yield SAPs sea septic tanks service quality sewerage service sewerage system sewerage treatment plants small surcharge structural adjustment urban areas urban water urban water supply wages waste water water quality water sector water supply water supply system water system water systems water tariff wells Compared with other urban water systems in West Africa, the water supply system in Abidjan performs very well. Documenting the recent history of that system, the authors try to answer three questions: What motivated reform in a system that was already performing well? How and why did the reform affect sector performance, and what additional changes might improve performance further? And what explains the relatively strong performance of Abidjan's water system? Is the success attributable primarily to an efficient contractual arrangement or more generally to Cote d'Ivoire's institutional environment? In a region plagued by political instability, Ivorian political institutions were remarkably stable for close to 40 years. In part, the success of the Ivorian model is the result of these institutions' stability and credibility. The single-party system in place at the time of reform might suggest that there were few restraints in place to prevent the government from behaving opportunistically. But several features of the institutional environment protected against such opportunism. Because of this, and because reform was based on a system already performing well, the contractual arrangement with a private operator proved exceptionally capable of adjusting even in the face of dramatic changes in the external environment. Institutional environments are not as favorable in other countries in the region, so similar contractual arrangements might be less successful elsewhere. Reform in Cote d'Ivoire was motivated primarily by a macroeconomic crisis, which reduced the resources available for public investment. Without either a sector crisis or a realignment of political forces, the will for reform was weak. Consequently, opportunities for improvement were missed and some problems remain. Among other ways in which the system could be improved: Splitting the water system into autonomous subsystems in different cities, and allowing bidding for investment contracts, would increase the chances of competition for investment, which does not currently exist. 2015-02-13T18:41:43Z 2015-02-13T18:41:43Z 2000-06 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21444 en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2377 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Africa Cote d'Ivoire |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
en_US |
| topic |
water supply systems private sector participation property rights institutional capacity human capital development political stability institutional reform institutional environment assessment contracting macroeconomic stability bidding autonomy of executing agencies service delivery payments systems labor productivity sewerage democratization water quality investment incentives commercial performance indicators pricing leases concessions boreholes central government city councils clay concession contract connection fee construction cost of water cross-subsidization cubic meter cubic meter of water cubic meters cut off debt disposal of wastewater economic conditions employment export groundwater groundwater resources households income investment expenditures investment program labor productivity local authorities maintenance contracts marginal cost municipal governments municipalities number of connections performance indicators piped water pit latrines population growth potable water private operator private participation programs property rights public utility public works pumping pumps safe yield SAPs sea septic tanks service quality sewerage service sewerage system sewerage treatment plants small surcharge structural adjustment urban areas urban water urban water supply wages waste water water quality water sector water supply water supply system water system water systems water tariff wells |
| spellingShingle |
water supply systems private sector participation property rights institutional capacity human capital development political stability institutional reform institutional environment assessment contracting macroeconomic stability bidding autonomy of executing agencies service delivery payments systems labor productivity sewerage democratization water quality investment incentives commercial performance indicators pricing leases concessions boreholes central government city councils clay concession contract connection fee construction cost of water cross-subsidization cubic meter cubic meter of water cubic meters cut off debt disposal of wastewater economic conditions employment export groundwater groundwater resources households income investment expenditures investment program labor productivity local authorities maintenance contracts marginal cost municipal governments municipalities number of connections performance indicators piped water pit latrines population growth potable water private operator private participation programs property rights public utility public works pumping pumps safe yield SAPs sea septic tanks service quality sewerage service sewerage system sewerage treatment plants small surcharge structural adjustment urban areas urban water urban water supply wages waste water water quality water sector water supply water supply system water system water systems water tariff wells Ménard, Claude Clarke, George Reforming Water Supply in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire : Mild Reform in a Turbulent Environment |
| geographic_facet |
Africa Cote d'Ivoire |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2377 |
| description |
Compared with other urban water systems in West Africa, the water supply system in Abidjan performs very well. Documenting the recent history of that system, the authors try to answer three questions: What motivated reform in a system that was already performing well? How and why did the reform affect sector performance, and what additional changes might improve performance further? And what explains the relatively strong performance of Abidjan's water system? Is the success attributable primarily to an efficient contractual arrangement or more generally to Cote d'Ivoire's institutional environment? In a region plagued by political instability, Ivorian political institutions were remarkably stable for close to 40 years. In part, the success of the Ivorian model is the result of these institutions' stability and credibility. The single-party system in place at the time of reform might suggest that there were few restraints in place to prevent the government from behaving opportunistically. But several features of the institutional environment protected against such opportunism. Because of this, and because reform was based on a system already performing well, the contractual arrangement with a private operator proved exceptionally capable of adjusting even in the face of dramatic changes in the external environment. Institutional environments are not as favorable in other countries in the region, so similar contractual arrangements might be less successful elsewhere. Reform in Cote d'Ivoire was motivated primarily by a macroeconomic crisis, which reduced the resources available for public investment. Without either a sector crisis or a realignment of political forces, the will for reform was weak. Consequently, opportunities for improvement were missed and some problems remain. Among other ways in which the system could be improved: Splitting the water system into autonomous subsystems in different cities, and allowing bidding for investment contracts, would increase the chances of competition for investment, which does not currently exist. |
| format |
Publications & Research |
| author |
Ménard, Claude Clarke, George |
| author_facet |
Ménard, Claude Clarke, George |
| author_sort |
Ménard, Claude |
| title |
Reforming Water Supply in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire : Mild Reform in a Turbulent Environment |
| title_short |
Reforming Water Supply in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire : Mild Reform in a Turbulent Environment |
| title_full |
Reforming Water Supply in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire : Mild Reform in a Turbulent Environment |
| title_fullStr |
Reforming Water Supply in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire : Mild Reform in a Turbulent Environment |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Reforming Water Supply in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire : Mild Reform in a Turbulent Environment |
| title_sort |
reforming water supply in abidjan, côte d'ivoire : mild reform in a turbulent environment |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2015 |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21444 |
| _version_ |
1764448279779606528 |