Strengthening of management and operational capacities of the water and wastewater company in Qena

Project details
Country: 
Egypt
Associated enterprises: 
Department: 
Water
Project volume: 
4,210,289 €
Currency: 
Value of services: 
4,156,465 €
Start of project: 
January, 2007
End of project: 
February, 2014
Project background: 

As part of the undergoing reform in the water supply and wastewater management sector in Egypt, responsibilities had been increasingly transferred from governorates’ water departments to newly established water supply and wastewater management companies. These new corporations were gra­dually being grouped under the Holding Company for Water and Wastewater (HCWW) founded in 2004. Despite noticeable improvements in the operation of the numerous facilities, the responsible companies were still not fully able to deliver their water supply and wastewater management services economically and efficiently.

Project description: 

From 2007 to 08/2011, the project focused on enhancing the management and operational efficiency in water supply and wastewater management in Qena Governorate and improving wastewater management in selected rural communities in the governorate.

Following achievement of the phase 1 objectives, the new phase from 09/2011 to 02/2014  concentrated on further advancing and expanding the successful TSM (technical sustainable management) approach, consolidating and decentralising commercial processes and strengthening management performance and in particular human resources management and development.

Service description: 

Phase I:

Advice to QCWW (≈ 4000 staff) on improving their general, financial and technical management and support in the development of a concept for rural wastewater management and implementation in at least one pilot village:

  • Advice on selecting management staff and support in building the organisational structure and management procedures;
  • Support in the development and implementation of an HRD plan, incl. recruitment and training. Design and roll-out of a staff training programme for management, technical and commercial staff;
  • Advice to operational units on improving operation and plant maintenance (store management, preventive maintenance, network management and water loss control, standard operating procedures, reporting formats, etc.);
  • Advice to financial and commercial units on improving financial management, debt collection systems, accounting standards, accounting and financial management system, budgeting, annual reporting to HCWW, commercial management plan, incl. metering, billing, collection, customer relations and customer database;
  • Improvement of energy efficiency (review of current practices related to electrical energy consumption, development of best practice for measuring, monitoring and evaluating electrical usage and power factor, specification of suitable equipment, training of QCWW engineers on power measurement methodology, costing and management, specifying, selecting and installing appropriate power factor correction equipment to achieve savings;
  • Support to the water quality laboratory (standard testing procedures, recording and reporting systems, laboratory safety policy, identification of necessary consumables and an effective system for replenishment, optimisation of the tests carried out);
  • Support in the development of a business plan (assistance in strategic planning);
  • Design and implementation of public awareness campaigns;
  • Advisory services to QWWC staff and to selected communities/ community self-help groups in Qena Governorate in conceiving and introducing appropriate low-cost rural waste­water disposal systems (similar to the Kafr El Sheik model implemented by RODECO on behalf of GIZ);
  • Survey in 75 villages to assess the suitability of this model for application in Qena, in particular the communities’ acceptance of the principle and ideas and their willingness and ability to pay; and
  • Support to the development of a rural sanitation master plan.

Phase II:

In the second phase, the support of QCWW by the Consultant focused on the following:

  • Expansion of TSM to networks and oxidation ponds, support to certification process of 7 pilot facilities, active support to the development of TSM on the national level;
  • Decentralisation and improvement of commercial operations: piloting of bi-monthly billing cycle, piloting the application of handheld meters, support to start-up of customer services centres, support to QCWW in the implementation of a comprehensive customer survey;
  • Certification of training department: selection of key processes to be certified, gap analysis and development of strategy for certification process, development of the necessary tools and processes, support to the application of these instruments and the certification process;
  • Kenouz Trainng Centre (KTC) as Regional Training Centre for Management Career Path: coaching of KTC staff in the management and evaluation of training, development of a strategy for delivering this special kind of training and marketing it, promotion of experience exchange with other regional training centres, support to implementation and monitoring of the strategy; and
  • Improvement of management processes: improvement of goal setting linked to achievement of business plan objectives, fostering the identification of managers with objectives, development of performance evaluation system, piloting of the management career path and technical career path.
Currency: