Listening to African consumers about water sector reform

Consumers are important stakeholders in water and sanitation but in Africa their voices are seldom heard. Permanent mechanisms are needed to ensure that Africa’s growing consumer movement is involved in helping policymakers determine prices, guarantee that all consumers, particularly marginalised and poor ones have access, and that services are transparent and sustainable.

A report from Consumers International and the Water and Sanitation Programme analyses work being done by four pioneering African consumer organisations. Most movements still have much to learn about the technicalities of water supply, funding and regulation.

Across Africa, even in capital cities, most consumers are not connected to water supply networks, whether state, municipal or private. In the Chadian capital of N’djamena only 2.8 percent of the population gets water through taps. Lack of maintenance and investment and failure to collect revenues means utilities are struggling to maintain existing levels of service. Large amounts of water are lost to leakages and the interests of industry, commerce and wealthier neighbourhoods are given priority. Increasing numbers of unconnected urban consumers have to pay three to ten times as much for water as the lucky few who have tap water.

The consumer movement is growingly rapidly in Africa, facilitated by the spread of multi-party politics, the diminishing role of government as service providers and donor interest in assisting civil society to hold governments and the private sector accountable. Consumers International’s network includes 120 independent consumer organisations in 45 African countries.

The ineffectiveness of current regulatory mechanisms shows the need to involve consumer organisations in developing sustainable policies that favour poor people. If they are to become credible stakeholders in the water and sanitation sector reform, however, consumer organisations need knowledge, skills, access to information from other countries and permanent channels of participation and representation.

In the four project countries Chad, Kenya, Senegal and Zambia the Bank Netherlands Water Partnership has assisted consumer organisations to facilitate country reviews, convene national stakeholder meetings and understand local water laws and regulations. They are learning how to draft recommendations to government and developing strategies to communicate consumer issues and peacefully organise protests and lobbying.

In all four countries consumer organisations complain of:

• complicated and unfair tariff and subsidy systems: better-off consumers who can afford to connect to water networks are the ones who mainly benefit
• erratic services: water is cut off without any warning and billing is unpredictable
• ineffective regulatory frameworks and complaints mechanisms
• lack of government openness and willingness to work with civil society.

In order to champion poor peoples’ need, whether within publicly owned water systems or public-private partnerships, it is important that consumer organisations:

• are not seen just as critics but as organisations able to provide constructive alternatives
• receive training in tariff setting, regulation, institutional and legislative framework of water management, advocacy and communication
• develop the capacity to process complaints from individual consumers and use them to develop advocacy positions
• remain aware that accepting positions in regulatory bodies can make it harder to represent consumers: confidentiality rules may prevent issues being publicly discussed
• recognise the long-term undesirability of themselves becoming service providers
• make donors understand that advocacy and capacity building take time.

Source(s):
‘Moving from protest to proposal: building the capacity of consumer organisations to engage in urban water supply and sanitation sector reform in Africa’, Consumers International and Water and Sanitation Program, by Nessie Golakai, Ibrahima Aidara and Clarissa Brocklehurst, June 2004 Full document.
(French version) ‘De la protestation à la proposition: renforcer les capacites des organisations de consommateurs a s’engager dans la reforme du secteur de l’eau et de l’assainissement en milieu urbain en afrique’, l’Organisation Internationale des Consommateurs et le Programme Eau et Assainissement, par Nessie Golakai, Ibrahima Aidara est Clarissa Brocklehurst, Juin 2004 Full document.

Funded by: UK Department for International Development (DFID), African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), World Bank, NORAD, Ministry for Foreign Cooperation of Norway

id21 Research Highlight: 2 December 2005

Further Information:
Robin Simpson
Consumers International Africa Office
2 A La Tebu Close, East Cantonments
PMB CT 386, Cantonments
Accra
Ghana

Tel: +233 21 911829/911993-4
Fax: +233 21 784370
Contact the contributor: rsimpson@consint.org; i_aidara@yahoo.fr

Consumers International Africa Office

Clarissa Brocklehurst
48 Lorne Avenue
Ottowa
Ontario
Canada K1R 7G7

Tel: +1 613 231 7297
Fax: +1 613 231 5257
Contact the contributor: cbrocklehurst@sympatico.ca

Water and Sanitation Program
Regional Office for Africa
Hill Park Building, Upper Hill
P.O. Box 30577
Nairobi
Kenya

Tel: +254 20 3226000
Fax: +254 20 3226386
Contact the contributor: wspaf@worldbank.org

Water and Sanitation Program - Africa

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