Modern water PPPs bring a fair balance
of risk between partners

Well-designed PPPs, appropriate to the region and objectives, ensure a fair distribution of risks, according to AquaFed Vice-President Cyril Courjaret.

 

In turn, a more equitable risk distribution brings many benefits. These include: increased access to water, better service quality and increased operational efficiency - reduced losses, increased bill collection rates, increased work productivity.

 

Cyril added that project preparation, involving all stakeholders, is absolutely key to jointly measure the social impact and expectations and ensure success agreement. IFIs can also play for a major role in supporting strong local governance, reducing the risk profile, and making projects attractive.

 

He made his remarks while representing AquaFed at the OECD 12th Roundtable on Financing Water: "Strengthening the sustainability of water investments: alternative financing approaches and models", held in Jeddah 16-17 April 2025. The session he spoke at was called: "Revisiting Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for water: focusing on results and balancing risks".

 

The OECD has also published a Background Paper on PPPs a few days before the session and the comments from the speakers will be taken on board before a final version is published in the coming months.

 

The AquaFed's Briefing Note summarizes the key points from Cyril and the other speakers.