Introducing private sector participation

Private sector participation in the water and sanitation sector generated much debate in the 1990s and noughties. Although the debate has somewhat abated at international level, there remains some hotspots (such as California or South Africa) where it rages on. 

Our take is PSP is a neutral one. We believe that PSP has a role to play where appropriate to improve service delivery efficiency, foster a results and performance-orientated culture and reddress some of the mistakes or excesses that can sometimes take place when public companies are not adequately regulated. However, the nature and potential role of PSP in water is often misunderstood, either by its detractors (who think that water is a gift from God which should not be charged for and that even a management contract equates to relinquishing the people's rights over this precious resource) or by its enthusiastic supporters (who often "sold" PSP as a way to bring in new financing, thereby omitting to say that private financing ultimately needs to be repaid, at a price). 

We have extensively reviewed specific examples of water PSP contracts, carefully evaluating their achievements and the difficulties encountered. We have been involved in designing such contracts and in producing guidance documents for introducing PSP, either for large scale contracts or small-scale contracts in rural areas.