Regulating urban water services for the poor: the Zambian case study

Economic regulation of urban water service providers is necessary to guard the equity principle and promote universal water service coverage that is an overarching target for achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This paper reports on research carried out in Lusaka, Zambia, one of seven worldwide case-studies on how to incorporate the needs of the urban poor, through a universal service obligation, as a primary duty of regulation. The study found that NWASCO, the Zambian regulator has made commendable progress towards ‘good regulation’ principles of independence, accountability, consistency, transparency, proportionality and equitable targeting of interventions. Clearly, there good lessons for policy makers in other developing countries to learn from the way regulation structures, systems and procedures were set up in Zambia, and how they are functioning at present Recommendations have been made to improve these attributes.