The AfWA-FABRI Non-Revenue Water Program aims to reduce water losses in African utilities through partnerships between USAID, AfWA, and 18 water companies in 15 countries. Utilities in sub-Saharan Africa currently lose around one-third of their water supply on average. The program conducts water audits to assess losses, then works with utilities to develop plans to reduce losses through improved management practices. The goals are to increase the amount of water available to customers, improve utility finances, and establish AfWA as a leader in water loss reduction across Africa.

1. AfWA-FABRI NON-REVENUE WATER PROGRAM
AFRICAN WATER ASSOCIATION AND USAID FURTHER ADVANCING THE BLUE REVOLUTION INITIATIVE
OVERVIEW
The difference between the water that the utility
produces and the water that it is paid for is called non-
revenue water (NRW). Like a business with serious
inventory and sales problems, many water utilities are
crippled by water losses that they cannot account for or
reverse. Some level of loss is normal and expected. A
utility that keeps its losses at 25 percent or less is doing
well. In sub-Saharan Africa, however, most utilities are
losing far more than that.
In Togo, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo and
Swaziland, the national water companies estimate that
around one-third of their water is non-revenue. The
utility in Kisumu, a major city in Kenya, loses half of its
water, as does the national water company of Ghana.
The state water board of Bauchi in northern Nigeria
guesses that its losses may reach 75 percent, but it is not
certain since it is not sure how much water is in its
system or how much it sells.
The solutions to these problems do not always require
massive investments. Sometimes the solutions, like those
being drafted and implemented by the U. S. Agency for
International Development (USAID), are about new
approaches, new partnerships and new tools.
What causes these high levels of loss? Most people think
first of broken pipes. We have all seen flooded streets or
water pouring out of hydrants. They can amount to large
losses, but they are also easy to spot and stop. More
insidious are the losses from institutional corruption or
user theft, broken meters, and billing inaccuracies. They
require more fundamental changes in thinking or
adjustments in systems, but improvements can have a far-
reaching impact on a utility’s operations.
Most utilities in Africa live on the edge of a financial
precipice. They cannot cover their regular operating
costs. They do not provide full services to their
customers, and they cannot repair or expand their
networks, making delivery less fair. Nor can they keep up
with rapid urban growth that demands they extend the
network to a city’s edges. Without financial resources,
utilities cannot ensure the quality of their water supply.
Utilities in sub-Saharan Africa lose almost $600 million in
revenues yearly, or 3.4 million cubic meters per day,
from water losses, a significant portion of what the
United Nations estimates is needed to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals in improved access to
water and sanitation.
In 2012, USAID joined with the African Water
Association (AfWA) in an ambitious program to halt the
constant creep of higher and higher water loss levels.
Through its Further Advancing the Blue Revolution
Initiative (FABRI), USAID and AfWA are working with 18
national and city water companies and state water
boards in 15 countries in east, central, west and southern
Africa.
African Water Association
Association Africaine de l’Eau

2. TASK FORCE
The program began with the creation of the permanent
NRW Task Force under AfWA’s umbrella. It draws its
members from water utilities in 15 French- and English-
speaking countries. They tend to be directors of NRW
or operations departments, but some are also directors
of their utilities. Members of the Task Force design, guide
and monitor the AfWA/USAID program. Their training
in the latest thinking about NRW by some of the world’s
leading experts took place in two regional workshops in
2013 - Uganda in January and Senegal in February.
Task Force members are applying their skills in their own
utilities as well as others throughout Africa. As a first
step, they conducted water audits in all 18 utilities. A
team of two to three Task Force members from
different countries worked together for a week to
analyze the institutional and network conditions and
develop a detailed water balance for the utility. This is
often the first time that the utility has a comprehensive
understanding of how much water it has and how much
it uses.
Following the audit, the water utility develops a plan to
reduce NRW on its own or with the help of a Task
Force member. The plan clearly lays out what can be
done to reduce water losses in the short- and long-term
through the actions of the utility. While AfWA lacks the
funding and mandate to make major network repairs or
replacements, it will work with utilities to develop
proposals for major outside investment.
AfWA will use this model beyond the initial group of 18
utilities in the coming years in the hundreds of water
utilities that experience high levels of water loss. While
major renovation schemes are a costly fix outside the
reach of most utilities, there are many actions that will
lead to dramatic improvements. AfWA will work with
the utilities to introduce management practices and
tools. Strong local technical skills coupled with targeted
actions can make more water available to customers and
put utilities on a much-improved financial footing.
KEY NRW PROGRAM OUTCOMES
· Measures to reduce NRW in African utilities
· AfWA recognition as a technical leader in the sector
for hundreds of water utilities across the continent
· Consideration by governments to use NRW
practices and tools, before developing costly new
water resources, to increase supplies and improve
the lives of their people
AfWA NRW TASK FORCE MEMBERS
BENIN - Societe Nationale des Eaux du Benin
Jean-Michel Klican
BURKINA FASO - Office national de l'eau et de l'assainissement
Moumouni Sawadogo
CAMEROON - Camerounaise des Eaux
Lahcen Iderdar
CÔTE D'IVOIRE - Société de Distribution d'Eau de la Côte d'Ivoire
Francois Olivier Gosso, TF Chair
Alfred Vincent Gnalla
GABON - Société d’Eau et Electricité du Gabon
Alain Bilong Atsame
GHANA - Ghana Urban Water Company LTD
Cephas Tetteh Oguah, TF Deputy Chair
KENYA - Kisumu Water and Sewerage Co LTD
David Otieno Onyango
KENYA - Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Co LTD
John Mburu Ruhiu
SENEGAL - Senegal des Eaux
Abdoul Amadou Bal
SWAZILAND - Swaziland Water Services Corp
Peter Ndumiso Bhembe
Malusi Fana Dlamini
TOGO - Togolaise des Eaux
Erolakaza Etienne Tchagole
UGANDA - National Water and Sewerage Corp
Noah Kiwanuka Sonko ‘SK’
Mahmood Hakimu Lutaaya
CONTACTS
Heather Skilling
Senior Water and Sanitation Advisor
USAID Water Office
+ 1 202 712 1607
hskilling@usaid.gov
Sylvain Usher
Secretary General
African Water Association (AfWA)
+ 225 48203370
susher@afwa-hq.org
Peter Reiss
Chief of Party
Further Advancing the Blue Revolution Initiative (FABRI)
+ 1 202 549 1387
peter_reiss@dai.com