Publication: 2017 Water and Sewerage Sector: Private Participation in Infrastructure
Loading...
Published
2018-12-01
ISSN
Date
2018-12-19
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
In 2017, 30 projects in the water and sewerage sector received a total of USD 1.9 billion in investment—a decline of seven percent from 2016 levels. This not only marks the second-lowest level of investment in the previous 10 years (after the USD 1.2 billion recorded in 2011), but is also 55 percent lower than the five-year average investment level of USD 4.2 billion. The investment peak of USD 6.0 billion in 2012 was due to a substantial amount of investment (USD 5.4 billion) in LAC. A second peak in 2015 was the result of USD 3.1 billion worth of investment in LAC and a USD 1.2-billion investment in Russia. The declining levels of sectoral investments in recent years are largely explained by the muted investments in these regions. The PPI investment commitment in this sector in 2017 accounted for only two percent of the total PPI investment, compared to 3.8 percent over the previous five years, and three percent over the previous 10 years. On the brighter side, 2017 marked a 21-percent increase in investments in water-treatment plants, which accounted for 84 percent of sectoral investments (USD 1.6 billion out of USD 1.9 billion). It is also 50-percent higher than the average investment in water-treatment plants in the previous five years. China accounted for four-fifths of investments in water-treatment projects, with the majority of these being greenfield projects. 2017 WATER & SEWERAGE SECTOR On the other hand, the water-utility subsector received the lowest level of investment of the previous 10 years; this was the primary cause for the drop in sectoral investments in recent years. There were only three water-utility projects, with a total worth of USD 291 million.Interestingly, the water sector saw a large percentage of contracts granted at the local or municipal levels. Over the previous 10 years, an average of 77 percent of contracts were granted at the local and municipal levels, whereas for other sectors, a majority of contracts were granted at the national level. In 2017, 22 of 30 projects were contracted by local or municipal governments. Twenty-one of these projects were in China; they amounted to USD 1.06 billion, and 20 of them were treatment plants. Of the four projects that were contracted by state or provincial governments, three were from China and amounted to USD 365 million. Brazil had one project (worth USD 3.4 million) contracted by a local or municipal government, and one project (worth USD 215 million) by a state or provincial government. There were also individual projects seen in India, Indonesia and Rwanda that were commissioned by the national government.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank Group. 2018. 2017 Water and Sewerage Sector: Private Participation in Infrastructure. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31036 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Concessionary Financing Programs for the Water and Sanitation Sector in China(Washington, DC, 2009-12)China's water and sanitation sector faces challenges from rapid urbanization and industrialization, urban diversification, large investment needs, water scarcity, water pollution, and ecological degradation. This policy note addresses 'concessionary finance.' It is intended to provide a briefing for Chinese government officials who formulate policies for the water and sanitation sector. This note is not intended to provide recommendations on which policies to adopt, but rather to facilitate understanding of the policy options, how to choose among them, and where and how various options have been used in practice. Good water and sanitation services are essential for economic growth, public health, and environmental protection. However, these services can be difficult to finance. When utilities do not have sufficient capital, they under-invest and this will adversely affect the quality of services the utilities provide. Many governments run targeted concessionary financing programs as a method of helping utilities raise the needed capital. International experience has shown that well designed concessionary financing programs can additionally be employed as incentives to successfully improve utility efficiency, sector governance, or both. This policy note draws on successful case studies from concessionary finance programs in other countries.Publication Private Participation in the Water and Sewerage Sector : Recent Trends(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1998-08)The PPI (Private Participation in Infrastructure) Project Database covers private participation in infrastructure in developing countries. The database records details of all projects owned or managed by private companies in 1984-97 in the water, energy, transport, and telecommunications sectors. This Note focuses on private water and sewerage projects that reached financial closure between 1990 and 1997 and surveys regional trends, type of private participation, project size, and top sponsors and operators. The PPI Database reveals the following trends in private participation in water and sewerage: a) a regional and national concentration of private water projects, reflecting varied government efforts to create conditions for sustainable private involvement through pricing, regulatory, and institutional reforms, but also a ripple effect from growing government familiarity with private involvement in the sector; b) a dominance of concession contracts compared with divestitures, BOT (build, operate, transfer) contracts, leases, and, management contracts; and c) a few international companies sponsoring and operating most major projects.Publication Decentralization and Service Delivery in Albania : Governance in the Water Sector(Washington, DC, 2011-04)This review of the water sector in Albania was prepared as a background paper to the World Bank s Country Partnership Strategy for Albania for 2011-2014. It draws on past analytical work on decentralization in Albania as well as relevant World Bank-financed operations such as the Water Sector Investment Project. Over the past decade, the World Bank has intensified its focus on governance as a key factor accounting for variations in development effectiveness. Through its long-standing engagement in Albania, the World Bank has supported institutional development and governance reforms to help strengthen the capacity of state institutions to deliver public goods and achieve development outcomes more effectively and efficiently. Governance is a key pillar of the Government s National Strategy for Development and Integration for 2007-2013. In an effort to improve the performance of water supply and wastewater services, the Government has designed reforms on the basis of international best practice. In spite of these well-intentioned policy decisions, utility performance has been disappointing, in part because of excessively complex design and implementation of sector governance arrangements. There is a need to address water sector governance on several fronts - legal, institutional, economic, administrative, and social - all of which have implications for service performance.Publication Technical Assessment of the Oaxaca Water and Sanitation Sector Modernization Program(Washington, DC, 2014-03)In 2012 the Government of Oaxaca (GoO) prepared a Strategic Plan (Plan Estrategico Sectorial) for the Water Supply and Sanitation sector as part of its State Development Plan (Plan Estatal de Desarrollo) covering the period 2011-2016 corresponding to the six years of its administration. The objectives of the Strategic Plan for the WSS sector can be grouped under four pillars, expanding access to WSS services urban areas, improving water service quality and financial sustainability of water utilities, increasing wastewater treatment coverage, and expanding access to WSS services rural areas.Publication India - Improving Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Services : Lessons from Business Plans for Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana and International Good Practices(Washington, DC, 2012-07)The purpose of this report is to distill lessons learnt for improving Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) services in India, by reference to the recent WSS business plans prepared for the three states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Haryana and from various studies carried out by the World Bank on international good practices in urban water service delivery. The report culls out the core elements of the WSS reform program and proposes how such reforms might be implemented. The intended audience for this report is policy makers at the national and state levels, sector professionals and practitioners. The report identifies the key elements of a state-wide program for improving WSS services and accountability on the basis of the following three pillars: i) policies and institutions: appropriate policies and institutional arrangements that clarify the roles and responsibilities of key actors, and which create service providers that are efficient, accountable and customer focused with sufficient autonomy to manage their affairs in a professional manner; ii) infrastructure and financing: medium term infrastructure development program with appropriate financial frameworks that encourage service providers to rely increasingly on user fees and, later on, loans as their main sources of financing. Any subsidies within that framework should be provided in a targeted and transparent manner to support government policies; and iii) capacity building for professional services: ensuring well trained, knowledgeable and motivated staff to deliver the services in a high quality manner. To put the sector in context, the report begins by summarizing the results of various international studies undertaken over the last several years by the World Bank to better understand the makings of well run public WSS companies. These findings point towards the need to establish sectors which encourage the development of autonomous, accountable and customer oriented service providers. Within that framework the report provides suggestions on practical steps that can be taken by governments and service providers.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Spring 2025: Accelerating Growth through Entrepreneurship, Technology Adoption, and Innovation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-23)Business dynamism and economic growth in Europe and Central Asia have weakened since the late 2000s, with productivity growth driven largely by resource reallocation between firms and sectors rather than innovation. To move up the value chain, countries need to facilitate technology adoption, stronger domestic competition, and firm-level innovation to build a more dynamic private sector. Governments should move beyond broad support for small- and medium-sized enterprises and focus on enabling the most productive firms to expand and compete globally. Strengthening competition policies, reducing the presence of state-owned enterprises, and ensuring fair market access are crucial. Limited availability of long-term financing and risk capital hinders firm growth and innovation. Economic disruptions are a shock in the short term, but they provide an opportunity for implementing enterprise and structural reforms, all of which are essential for creating better-paying jobs and helping countries in the region to achieve high-income status.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication Morocco Economic Update, Winter 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-03)Despite the drought causing a modest deceleration of overall GDP growth to 3.2 percent, the Moroccan economy has exhibited some encouraging trends in 2024. Non-agricultural growth has accelerated to an estimated 3.8 percent, driven by a revitalized industrial sector and a rebound in gross capital formation. Inflation has dropped below 1 percent, allowing Bank al-Maghrib to begin easing its monetary policy. While rural labor markets remain depressed, the economy has added close to 162,000 jobs in urban areas. Morocco’s external position remains strong overall, with a moderate current account deficit largely financed by growing foreign direct investment inflows, underpinned by solid investor confidence indicators. Despite significant spending pressures, the debt-to-GDP ratio is slowly declining.