Mauritania
Updated - Thursday 15 January 2004
Small-scale independent providers of water services often fill the gap between what a larger utility is able to provide and the demands of local communities, by providing water supply at a local level at competitive rates. While in most places, small-scale providers provide unregulated service, in Mauritania these providers were promoted through government decree.
In 1993, the government of Mauritania decided to decentralize management of water supply systems in small towns to local private operators, called "concessionaires". Although the law allows for municipalities and communities also to take on the responsibility, control is almost entirely in the hands of the private sector. In the last ten years, concessionaires operate in 190 of the 270 small towns that are equipped with water schemes.
Under the system, concessionaires are bound by a contract to provide water services for a community on a yearly basis (if it is a diesel-powered system) or on a monthly basis (if it is a solar-powered system). Contracts are somewhat loose, which has allowed for some flexibility between the operator, the community, and the local water department that previously operated the scheme. As a result, political and social factors tend to guide the contract on an informal basis, such that informal mechanisms between the community and the concessionaire keep each other in check. The smallness of the concession area also affords a level of personal service between the concessionaire and the users.
The concessionaires operate under cost recovery principles, requiring users to pay for their water supplies based on volume. Initial capital costs were paid by the State through government investment plans. However, in those communities which installed solar systems to provide energy for pumping, users assumed 25% of the capital costs. As the systems have grown, communities or the concessionaire are required to provide the financing, without assistance from government or external donors.
Self-financing is difficult, as the concessionaires are unable to obtain credit to finance expansion. Still, individual communities have been able to expand their water systems for domestic use in a variety of different ways: rich individuals in towns sometimes provide funding; migrant remittances may provide the funds; or an economic group (such as a farmers' cooperative) that needs access to water for productive use may provide the funds which then also provide water for domestic purposes.
The current regulatory structure instructs the Water Department to maintain the networks, paid for through a tax that is charged to consumers through the concessionaires. Over time, however, the Water Department has not proven a reliable partner, at least partially due to the lack of materials, vehicles, spare parts, and network of trained staff to perform maintenance duties throughout the country. Consequently, the concessionaires tend to conduct maintenance themselves, and have assumed greater responsibilities for the systems than originally envisaged. Many concessionaires have developed into a broader enterprise, with commercial and technical staff. Further, most of the concessionaires are professionals with formal education, with a very low staff turnover rate.
For further information
See : WSP
Contact: Water and Sanitation Program - West and Central Africa
Corner of Booker Washington and Jacques AKA Streets
Cocody, Abidjan, 01,
Cote D'Ivoire
Tel: +225 22 400 400
Email: wspaf@worldbank.org
