2008 - 2009 - Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2012 - 2013

PART 1: THE WORLD OF WATER 2008-2009
These are not headline grabbing contracts. As the figure below shows, the intensity of private
sector participation is appreciably more constrained than in the capital intensive, concessional
models usually associated with the World Bank.
Allocation of financing and management mechanisms
Source: Triche T, Requena S & Karuiki M (2006)
Approximately 1.6million people (21,800 people per contract) have been connected to these
services, a small proportion of the global PSP coverage, but in the context of these countries
and markets, a significant figure. The survey ended in September 2005 and may not reflect the
current performance of the contracts. To date, their performance has been encouraging. It is
notable that in none of these cases is the operator exposed to foreign currency perturbations.
Indeed, financing risks were generally limited, with only the BO contracts in Paraguay and the
DBO contracts in Cambodia having private operators carrying a partial financial risk.
The effective tariffs charged ranged from USD0.39-0.50 per m 3 . In all cases, these were
developed with affordability in mind. With some exceptions, there was no minimum water
consumption. In Paraguay, a lower actual tariff with a high minimum usage per month meant
that the real tariff of USD0.20 per m 3 was in fact USD0.48 per m 3 as water used was usually
less than the minimum.
Second tier companies continue to emerge
The next step up is companies being identified as holding individual contracts.
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Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2008-2009