SOCIAL CONNECTION POLICY – THE PILOT IN KAYOLE SOWETO, NAIROBI

Phillip Gichuki

MANAGING DIRECTOR

NAIROBI CITY WATER AND SEWERAGE COMPANY, KENYA.

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CONTENTS

Introduction Highlights on characteristics of Informal

Settlements in Nairobi Initiatives on Improving access to water Social connection policy – Kayole Soweto

Pilot Project Conclusion

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INTRODUCTION 0

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Nairobi is the capital City of Kenya with a population of 3.3 million people (2009 population census result)

About 40% of the population is in the informal settlements Developed on land with

freehold tenure Others are squatters

either on private or public land;

INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS CHARACTERISTICS

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Lack of basic services The housing structures

are mostly temporary Mainly located along

the Nairobi River Basin The trunk sewers Water pipes are at high

pressures

IMPROVING WATER ACCESS IN THE INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS

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Water Kiosks Initial Water kiosks in

Nairobi were developed in Kibera around 1970

Communal Water Points

IMPROVING ACCESS TO WATER SERVICES

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Ablution Blocks Water sale point as

well as public toilets and bathrooms are provided Ladies and gents

sanitation facilities are separated

Communal Water Points cont’

IMPROVING ACCESS TO WATER SERVICES

Water Tariff for community water points KES 2.00 per 20 liter (translate to KES 100/m3) For individual connections highest tariff block is KES

53.6/m3 (USD 0.63/m3) and lowest tariff block is KES 18.7/m3 (USD 0.22/m3)

The main barrier to individual connections in low income settlements has been the high connection fees (KES 8215 (Approx. USD 100))Survey fee of KES2,500 (USD 30) (non-refundable), KES2,500 (USD 30) refundable meter deposit and; KES3,215 (USD 40) cost of piping and fittings.

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Individual connections and the Barrier

SOCIAL CONNECTION POLICY - KAYOLE SOWETO PILOT PROJECT

• Through social connection policy NCWSC established a financing arrangement to bridge the gap

• A commercial Bank (K-Rep Bank) is providing loan to finance 80% of the first time connection fees while applicant is supposed to pay the balance 20% as commitment fee.

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Bridging the gap and commitments

SOCIAL CONNECTION POLICY - KAYOLE SOWETO PILOT PROJECT

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The pilot project covers Kayole Soweto in the Eastlands of Nairobi.

Kayole Soweto is an informal settlement with a population of over 90,000

Previously served through water vending through water kiosk Illegal connections

were rampant

Description of the Project Area

SOCIAL CONNECTION POLICY - KAYOLE SOWETO PILOT PROJECT

Under the output based aid (OBA) of the World Bank, the loan will be subsidized based on the following pre-agreed outputs At least 2200 connections in one year and; 90% of the new accounts under the project are billed and

revenue collected The OBA subsidy will be up to 40% of the project

cost, reducing loan burden to the applicant by up to 50%.

The applicants will pay the balance of the loan in installments within 3 years.

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The OBA Support

There are 2908 plots and it was estimated 2200 will be connected with water within one year

2076 plots were connected by 30th October 2013 and 2288 had paid their commitment fee The average billing per month per customer is

Kshs.281.00 Out of total billing of Kshs.1.5M between July and

September 2013 Kshs.0.5M (33%) was paid The number of paying customers is at 14%

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SOCIAL CONNECTION POLICY - KAYOLE SOWETO PILOT PROJECT

The Progress

SOCIAL CONNECTION POLICY - KAYOLE SOWETO PILOT PROJECT

The wait and see attitude of the community Several Community mobilization meetings

Slow internalization of the concept within the utility Customer management system took long to be

upgraded to capture loan repayment Political interference

Cartels previously exploiting consumers tried using politicians to work against the project

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Challenges

WATER TOKENS INITIATIVE

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• In the informal settlement where individual water connections is not possible, the Company is piloting on stand pipe dispensing prepaid meterso Water is dispensed using

electronic tokenso The selling price for the

token meter is at 50 cents per 20 litres jerrican compared to water at 2 shillings per 20 litres jerrican by the vendors.

o WSUP (an NGO) have offered 80 token dispensers.

CONCLUSION

• Formal supply of water in the informal settlements can alleviate poverty and enhance water rights

• Communities in the informal settlements are ready to deal directly with the water utility but …• The utility presence should be felt• Innovative way of billing customers there

need to be devised• For the success of the projects, there is

need to involve the beneficiaries from inception to completion of the project

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ENDTHANK YOU

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