| Back to Conference Home | Full List of Conference Papers |
It is now widely recognized that privatisation has failed to deliver on its promise to provide adequate and effective basic services to low-income households in countries in the South. There is, however, a danger that the subsequent policy response will serve to strengthen support for the private sector as well as commercialization of the public sector and alternative approaches will be neglected. This panel presents four preliminary papers from Phase III of the Municipal Services Project (MSP). This is a five-year (2008-13) study that systematically explores alternatives to privatization and commercialisation in service delivery, with a focus on health, electricity and water/sanitation. The MSP aims to develop conceptual and methodological tools that allow researchers and practitioners to better examine and understand historical, contemporary and proposed alternatives to service commercialization, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia.
| AUTHOR(s) | TITLE & ABSTRACT |
| Kate Bayliss and Al-Hassan Adam | Where have all the alternatives gone? The shrinking of African water policy options |
| Despite the efforts of governments and donors, water privatization never really caught on in sub-Saharan Africa water. A few long-term concessions were signed but there was a higher than average rate of contract failure and privatization contracts often failed to materialize. The biggest stumbling block was the reluctance of international firms to invest in the region. Public delivery is set to be the norm for the foreseeable future. However, the push for privatization has left a strong legacy. There is a remarkably uniform policy framework across the region as governments – and donors – have created an institutional environment that aims to be conducive to private sector participation. Our search for alternatives to privatization and commercialization revealed that even the most successful public utilities in the region act like private firms, driven by economic efficiency and revenue maximization. There is little evidence of interest in solidarity, equity or social justice. It would appear that the neoliberal stranglehold on policy options for Africa water is almost complete. | |
| Daniel Chavez | Lights On! Alternatives to the commercialization of electricity in Latin America |
| Beginning in the 1980s, all Latin American countries implemented profound policy reforms in the electricity sector, which resulted on diverse models for market liberalization and private investment. The tide began to change in the late 1990s with the expansion of several left-of-centre governments across the region, which meant strengthening state ownership and management and even the (re)nationalization of power utilities. Data and analysis contributed by this paper support the theoretical argument that privatization, in itself, does not guarantee the development of the sector, and that non-commercialized alternatives can be as good or even better options for service delivery. In contrast with many studies published in the past decade, this paper goes beyond explaining why privatization has been successful or not. It aims to provide explanations for cross-national differences in reforms of the energy sector, focusing on alternatives to market-driven provision of electricity. Towards this objective, the paper highlights some of the most relevant or promising experiences found in the region. A key finding of this study refers to the political dimension as a key aspect that should be incorporated into the study of electricity policy. | |
| Hulya Dagdeviren | Political Economy of Contractual Disputes and Renegotiations in Private Utilities |