Public-Private Partnerships for Urban Water Utilities : A Review of Experiences in Developing Countries
Since 1990, many national and local governments in developing countries have contracted with private companies to operate or manage their water utilities under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) contracts. The assumption was that the private sector w...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2010/04/12550676/public-private-partnerships-urban-water-utilities-review-experiences-developing-countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11706 |
| Summary: | Since 1990, many national and local
governments in developing countries have contracted with
private companies to operate or manage their water utilities
under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) contracts. The
assumption was that the private sector will improve
utilities by bringing in new capital, raising the level of
staff expertise, and making operations more cost-effective
and efficient. More than 260 PPP contracts have been signed
to provide water services in more than forty developing
countries. The recourse to private operators has been
accompanied, however, by a good deal of controversy. Several
high profile contracts, such as in Buenos Aires, were
cancelled in recent years following conflicts between the
public and private partners. This has raised doubts about
the suitability of PPPs to help improve water services in
developing countries. Yet, there has been only little
objective data available in the literature about the
performance of PPPs, and the resulting debate has been based
more on ideology than fact. This study attempts to redress
the shortage of information by examining, through objective
indicators, the actual performance of PPPs in developing
countries over the last fifteen years. It collected data
from as many as 65 PPP projects, representing a served
population of about one hundred million people half of the
urban population served at one point in time since 1990 by
private water operators, and 80 percent of the population
served by a private operator for more than 3 years and under
a contract signed before 2003. |
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