Governmental and non-governmental stakeholders participated in the workshop
The Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE) of Ethiopia held a workshop to discuss creating an Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Regulatory Authority. The focus is shifting from construction to governance, with new guidelines and key performance indicators being developed. Rapid urbanisation and poor utility performance drive the need for regulation. The proposed authority will cover public and private water services, aiming to protect consumer interests and improve financial sustainability. Initial efforts will focus on essential tools, with funding from the government, development partners, and user tariffs.
Published on: 03/09/2024
The Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE) of Ethiopia recently conducted a two-day consultative workshop with national and international stakeholders to discuss the establishment of an Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Regulatory Authority.
In his opening remark, Mr. Motuma Mekasa, a Senior Adviser to the MoWE highlighted that MoWE and regional water bureaus are responsible for constructing water supply and sanitation facilities and providing governance support to ensure sustainable service delivery. However, he noted that past efforts and budget allocations have focused more on construction rather than governance. New initiatives are now addressing this governance aspect.
Mr. Motuma mentioned the development of design criteria, guidelines, and manuals for urban water supply, the revision of key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor urban water and sanitation services, and efforts to strengthen rural water supply governance through associations as examples of these initiatives. He also emphasised the need for a regulatory authority, citing experiences from other countries.
He stressed that establishing a regulatory body is not solely the responsibility of MoWE but also involves the ministries of education and health, both of which participated in the workshop. Additionally, regulatory authorities from other national sectors were invited to share their experiences.
Since the legalisation of rural water supply is not completed, the regulatory authority focus will be on urban water supply and sanitation services that have a well-established structure.
Mrs. Azeb Tadesse from MoWE provided an overview of the process and status of the regulatory authority establishment process, which is being undertaken by a team of national and international consultants. She identified rapid urbanisation, weak service provision regulation compared to neighbouring countries, and poor performance of urban utilities as key drivers for establishing the regulatory authority.
The consultant team conducted a needs assessment, held consultative meetings with stakeholders at national and regional levels including development partners, NGOs and selected utilities, and validated the result in a stakeholder workshop.
The selected model for the regulatory authority involves establishing a national dedicated sector regulatory authority along with regional sector authorities. MoWE is preparing the enabling environment for this, including the development of a utility water management information system (UWMIS), KPIs, and a national guideline for utility categorisation.
The consultant team proposed a regulatory governance design and institutional set-up, considering legal, decision-making, financial, and management autonomy for validation in the workshop.
The consultant team presented the scope of the regulation, which will cover public urban water and sewerage service utilities and private sector emptying and transport service operators. The regulation will address economic, public health, environmental, and technical aspects. The need for regulation is to bridge the gap between government, service providers, and consumers, protect consumer interests regarding tariffs, service quality, and complaints, increase the financial sustainability of utilities, and encourage competition.
The team highlighted long list of tools and instruments needed for the authority, such as tariff setting guidelines, business plan development guidelines, performance reporting guidelines, customer engagement guidelines and many others. They also presented the suggested organisational structure, roles and responsibilities, draft proclamation, financial sources, and a roadmap for operationalising the regulatory authority. The authority will be accountable to a board to be established and report to MoWE. Experiences from the energy and petroleum sectors, the Ethiopian Standards Authority, and international examples from Zambia and other countries were discussed.
The event concluded with a call to “think big, start small, and scale up later.” It was suggested to begin with a few aspects of the regulation, focusing on developing necessary tools and instruments for prioritised areas, and to develop other instruments later together with the regulatory authority staff. The initial funding for the regulatory authority is expected to come from government and development partners, with user tariffs providing a sustainable source of income. The board’s composition should consider professional diversity, competency, and experience rather than political appointments. The recruitment process for the authority’s staff, including the chief executive officer, is suggested to be based on professional experience and competency.
