The 3rd Africa Water Supply and Sanitation Regulators Conference held under the theme “Adaptive Regulation: Addressing Emergent Issues”, was attended by more than 170 delegates comprising representatives of institutions with regulatory mandate, ministries, utilities, and different partners from 30 African countries and beyond. The conference officiated by the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Honourable Abida Sidik Mia MP, took place from 24th to 26th September in Blantyre, Malawi under the auspices of the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, as well as the Water Services Association of Malawi (WASAMA).
The theme of the conference aimed to highlight how regulators are adapting regulation in the face of emergent issues to ensure resilient, sustainable, affordable, and professional WSS services. The progress to meeting the SDG targets on water and sanitation is affected by emergent issues that apply pressure on the WASH sector. These include climate change effects, pandemics, population growth and migration, proliferation of deconcentrated informal service providers, slow uptake of digitalization and technology advancements as well as economic downturns and fiscal stress experienced by many African countries.
Delivering his welcoming remarks, Mr. Gabriel Hakizimana, the Chairperson of ESAWAS acknowledged the holding of the 3rd Africa WSS Regulators Conference as a testament of countries’ commitment to strengthen sector governance and accountability through regulation. This aligns with a multi-partner Global Call to Action for strengthening WSS Regulatory systems, which ESAWAS has joined. Dr Robert Hanjahanja, speaking on behalf of WASAMA and Mr Elias Chimulambe the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Water and Sanitation also emphasized the importance of strengthening sector regulation highlighting the progress being made by Malawi in this regard. Mr Chimulambe called for ‘doing business unusual in our sector. We have the right environment; we have the political will to do the right things. We have opportunities to brainstorm and share ideas as a continent through platforms like this one. We have the support of development partners. Most importantly, we have the passion and will to deliver and we will succeed.’
The conference was officially opened by Honorable Abida Sidik Mia, MP, the Minister of Water and Sanitation in Malawi who recognised the significance of the conference evidenced by a huge turnout of delegates. She reminded the participants that the water and sanitation sector is a cornerstone for social economic development, calling for joint and concerted efforts from all stakeholders to address the emergent sector challenges, including devising frameworks to extend access to safe and sustainable water and sanitation to rural communities. She commended the collaboration among countries to strengthen WSS regulation, particularly the supported learning visits for her Ministry officials to learn from regulators in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia. She gave assurance that the acquired knowledge will aid in the reforms underway to advance the WSS sector in Malawi, including the establishment of an autonomous WSS Regulator.
The AfWASA Executive Director, Mr Olivier Gosso in his keynote remarks described adaptive regulation as a strategic response to unforeseen challenges but also an approach to foster collaboration between regulators and operators to ensure resilient and efficient WSS service management. The AfDB Ag. Director AHWS/AWF, Mr Mtchera Chirwa, emphasised that achieving a water-secure Africa will require consistent investment in water infrastructure, operations, and maintenance, efficient management of water resources, and strengthened policy and regulatory frameworks. “Now more than ever before, this is the time to move from talk to action should we want to reverse the trend of inadequate water security and sanitation”. Mr Chirwa further called for more concerted efforts towards building a continental organization by expanding ESAWAS to the rest of the continent, that will allow a wider knowledge base, a stronger political power and will contribute to raising the profile of the Association.
The ESAWAS Executive Secretary, Ms Yvonne Magawa highlighted the role of regulation in formalising the sector and the emergent issues that the WSS sector faces that need consideration in regulatory design. She introduced the key aspects to be discussed that demonstrate how regulators are adapting regulation to the changing environment. The conference topics were tackled in four main sessions, as follows:
1. Sector financing and commercial (business) orientation
The session discussed the role of the regulator and practical considerations in financing WSS sector as well as supporting/promoting commercial/business orientation in the management of WSS services as a business enterprise.
2. Regulatory frameworks and service delivery models
This session explored appropriate accountability mechanisms to ensure that rural WSS services and small water supplies meet acceptable and enforceable performance standards as well as workable approaches to regulate rural WSS services and small water supplies.
3. Off-grid/ Non-networked WSS solutions
This session reviewed approaches that have been instituted to reorganize the informal service provision under formalized arrangements for off-grid or non-networked water supply and sanitation services.
4. Sector monitoring and data systems strengthening
The session looked at ongoing efforts to strengthen data systems as a critical instrument for effective decision-making to accelerate and sustain progress in quality service delivery.
The conference also provided the platform for cooperating partners to present their initiatives in strengthening regulation and service providers performance. These included:
- The African Development Bank (AfDB) which presented the Bank’s initiatives for optimising financing for the water and sanitation sector comprising financing products for policy-based, results-based, investment program finance, technical assistance – Climate Action Window, AWF, etc; the AfricaUrban Sanitation Investment Initiative (AUSII) – the new sanitation financing instrument to support urban sanitation in Africa; and Sector reforms for financing of climate resilient WSS services;
- The World Bank presented the key focus areas for regulators to support utility turnaround including strengthening operational efficiency of the utility, improving the governing environment, improving access to funding for WSS utilities and data sharing;
- The Water Sector Counsellor at the Royal Danish Embassy in Kenya outlined an initiative to setup a platform to enhance experience exchange and knowledge sharing between Denmark and African institutions in an aim to support better WSS sector governance frameworks and reform processes
ESAWAS provided updates on the key actions from the past conferences. These include among others:
- The development of Data Systems Maturity Assessment Framework to assess the level of data systems maturity of WSS institutions to guide targeted investments in data systems and management;
- Service Resilience and Emergency Preparedness Assessment Tool to guide improvements in service resilience amongst WSS utilities and the actions to be taken against various sector shocks and stresses;
- Service Provider + Regulator Engagement Platform established to enhance dialogue between Service Providers and Regulators for advancing WSS services delivery and overall sector performance;
- Integrating integrity in urban sanitation regulation and service provision, undertaken in collaboration with Water Integrity Network;
- Establishment of an Africa-based dedicated WSS Regulation Training Centre launched in March 2024.
The conference deliberations highlighted the following key takeaways and actions:
- Strengthen sector performance through reforms;
- Stakeholder engagement and collaboration should be strengthened to devise appropriate strategies to address emergent issues;
- Develop and implement regulatory frameworks that are adaptable to emerging challenges and changing conditions;
- Enhancing service resilience of African WSS service providers needs to take into consideration water resources, supply augmentation, demand management, asset management, strengthening services, monitoring and learning and risk assessment and planning;
- The governance framework is a key determinant for sector financing. This requires Government to develop commensurate policies and strategies for an enabling environment;
- Capacity strengthening for service providers needs to be prioritized to improve bankability, commercial orientation and attract investment to the sector;
- Improve project preparation to ensure well-designed and feasible projects. Increase funding for project preparation & increase upstream policy support;
- Tap more into climate financing. Increase investments in resilience to climate change and investments toward mitigating climate change;
- Create a continent-level specialised group to address rural WSS service delivery to inform the most effective frameworks for implementation;
- The informal service providers should be formalized to be able to benefit from the available financing programmes. The regulators should support the process;
- Support the realisation of scalable climate-resilient and inclusive sanitation solutions across Africa. Create an enabling environment in which sanitation solutions can thrive;
- Consider delegating the operation and management of faecal sludge treatment plants to private service providers that empty and transport faecal sludge. This will enhance cost effectiveness/economies of scale along the entire sanitation service chain;
- Increase focus on results.
- Invest in real-time monitoring systems to collect and analyse data, demand, and infrastructure performance. Both regulators and service providers should be supported technically and financially to set up and run adequate sector integrated data management systems that can offer real-time data. Use data to inform policy decisions and identify emerging trends;
- Regulators should improve monitoring and set-up platforms for sharing information about sector trends.
The conference was succeeded by the 18th ESAWAS Annual General Meeting which saw Ekiti State Water and Sanitation Regulatory Agency (EK-WASRA) in Nigeria and The Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) of Sierra Leone are affiliate members in line with the endorsement of continental expansion of ESAWAS by the 2023 conference.
The 4th Africa WSS Regulator’s Conference is scheduled for Capetown, South Africa to be hosted by the Department of Water and Sanitation in 2025.
