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This note summarizes lessons from the Water and Sanitation Program's (WSP) technical assistance to improve performance and cost-recovery at the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC) and Sierra Leone's Guma Valley Water Company (GVWC). The focus on cost-recovery reflects its critical importance to the viability of utilities. There are 'almost no examples in developing countries' of utilities 'whose operating revenues are significantly below O&M costs and that are nevertheless able to develop and maintain their infrastructure and provide a reliable and efficient service'. (McPhail, and others, 2012). WSP's technical assistance sought to strengthen reform efforts initiated by the management teams at LWSC and GVWC by improving the utilities' ability to sustainably fund their operations. Three aspects of cost-recovery were prioritized: (a) improving metering, billing and collection processes (b) reducing commercial non-revenue water and (c) investigating options to expand the utilities' revenue base by connecting new customers more effectively.

Cost Recovery --- Sanitation and Sewerage --- Water Supply --- Water Supply and Sanitation --- Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions

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Infrastructure made a net contribution of around one percentage point to Nigeria's improved per capita growth performance in recent years, in spite of the fact that unreliable power supplies held growth back. Raising the country's infrastructure endowment to that of the region's middle-income countries could boost annual growth by around 4 percentage points. Among its African peers, Nigeria has relatively advanced power, road, rail, and ICT networks that cover the national territory quite extensively. Extensive reforms are ongoing in the power, ports, ICT, and domestic air transport sectors. But challenges persist. The power sector's operational efficiency and cost recovery has been among the worst in Africa, supplying about half of what is required, with subsequent social costs of about 3.7 percent of GDP. The water and sanitation sector has inefficient operations, with low and declining levels of piped water coverage. Irrigation development is also low relative to the country's substantial potential. In the transport sector, Nigeria's road networks are in poor condition from lack of maintenance, and the country has a poor record on air transport safety. Addressing Nigeria's infrastructure challenges will require sustained expenditure of almost USD 14.2 billion per year over the next decade, or about 12 percent of GDP. Nigeria already spends about USD 5.9 billion. It is well placed to raise the funds needed for infrastructure, given the strength of the national economy, abundant oil revenues, and efforts at electricity cost recovery and other improvements to operations and management.

Cost Recovery --- Culture & Development --- E-Business --- Infrastructure --- Infrastructure Economics --- Infrastructure Economics and Finance --- Operational Efficiency --- Power Sector --- Public Sector Economics --- Town Water Supply and Sanitation --- Transport Economics Policy & Planning --- Nigeria

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Infrastructure made a net contribution of around one percentage point to Nigeria's improved per capita growth performance in recent years, in spite of the fact that unreliable power supplies held growth back. Raising the country's infrastructure endowment to that of the region's middle-income countries could boost annual growth by around 4 percentage points. Among its African peers, Nigeria has relatively advanced power, road, rail, and ICT networks that cover the national territory quite extensively. Extensive reforms are ongoing in the power, ports, ICT, and domestic air transport sectors. But challenges persist. The power sector's operational efficiency and cost recovery has been among the worst in Africa, supplying about half of what is required, with subsequent social costs of about 3.7 percent of GDP. The water and sanitation sector has inefficient operations, with low and declining levels of piped water coverage. Irrigation development is also low relative to the country's substantial potential. In the transport sector, Nigeria's road networks are in poor condition from lack of maintenance, and the country has a poor record on air transport safety. Addressing Nigeria's infrastructure challenges will require sustained expenditure of almost USD 14.2 billion per year over the next decade, or about 12 percent of GDP. Nigeria already spends about USD 5.9 billion. It is well placed to raise the funds needed for infrastructure, given the strength of the national economy, abundant oil revenues, and efforts at electricity cost recovery and other improvements to operations and management.

Cost Recovery --- Culture & Development --- E-Business --- Infrastructure --- Infrastructure Economics --- Infrastructure Economics and Finance --- Operational Efficiency --- Power Sector --- Public Sector Economics --- Town Water Supply and Sanitation --- Transport Economics Policy & Planning --- Nigeria

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This paper analyzes power utilities in 15 jurisdictions to understand the determinants of success for reforms aimed at improving financial viability and cost recovery in the power sector and the impacts of these reforms on metrics of sector performance. The analysis finds that electricity tariffs are rarely high enough to cover the full costs of service delivery, even where the cost of service is low, and that few countries adequately manage volatile costs and maintain cost recovery levels over time. Almost everywhere, power utilities often impose a substantial fiscal burden and contingent liabilities on government budgets. Over the past 30 years, cost recovery levels have increased on average, but progress has been uneven, with over half of the case study jurisdictions experiencing a decline compared with the pre-reform period. The record of reforms of price formation, especially tariff setting through regulatory agencies, is mixed. On average, countries that have made more progress on utility governance and decision making perform better on cost recovery. The paper concludes with proposed modifications to the conceptual framework underpinning the economic analysis of power sector reforms as well as immediate, practical implications for understanding cost recovery as part of the overall power sector reform agenda.

Access to Electricity --- Cost of Service Delivery --- Cost Recovery --- Electric Power --- Electric Utilities --- Electricity Pricing --- Electricity Subsidy --- Electricity Tariff --- Emerging Market Economies --- Energy --- Energy and Poverty Alleviation --- Energy Policies and Economics --- Energy Sector Regulation --- Power Sector --- Public Sector Development

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The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred unprecedented economic disruption globally. The full scope of the virus's impact on human health and economic activity remains to be seen, but two things are clear: (1) the most fragile economies, and most vulnerable segments of the world's population, are least able to mitigate the impact, and (2) reliable and affordable utility services, electricity, water and sanitation, and internet and telephony, are critically important in slowing the spread of the virus. Many utility service providers in Sub-Saharan Africa were, in 2019, already under financial duress. The COVID-19 health crisis has and will continue to exacerbate such duress and jeopardize their ability to provide essential services. As the region faces its first recession in a quarter century, economic growth is expected to decline from 2.4 percent in 2019 to between -2.1 and -5.1 percent in 2020. Fiscal deficits are projected to widen amid falling government revenues. The harmful impacts on the energy sectors of the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to far exceed those on other sectors.

Business Cycles and Stabilization Policies --- Coronavirus --- Cost Recovery --- COVID-19 --- Disease Control and Prevention --- Electric Power --- Energy --- Energy Markets --- Energy Policies and Economics --- Health, Nutrition and Population --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Utilities