In the period 2012 - 2015 EBC/Vewin and a project consortium led by Vitens-Evides International implemented an ‘EBC-like’ benchmarking programme for the Kenyan water sector under an EU-funded capacity building project.
The project aimed to develop a benchmarking programme, adapted to the Kenyan context and with technical support to Kenyan Water Service Providers (WSP’s) in the field of non-revenue water (priority area).
Nine pilot utilities participated in the project. In the beginning, the project consortium paid much attention to training of utility staff on the benchmarking concept: process, methodology, data quality and improvement priorities.
In the course of the project, study visits were organised to Dutch water companies. Working groups of representatives from Kenyan WSP’s, guided by experienced staff from Dutch partner utilities, focussed on specific improvement opportunities.
As a spin-off of the project, four larger utilities participated in EBC’s IB2013 benchmarking cycle for Western Europe to experience what a mature benchmarking programme works like. Representatives from the utilities joined the IB2013 benchmarking workshop in Antwerp (BE), to disseminate the experiences back home.
The capacity building project in Kenya learned that EBC’s (IWA/AWWA-based) benchmarking approaches are universally applicable - provided the assessment is aligned with the local context.
Benchmarking training - Nairobi, 2012