Resource information
Bolivia is one of a growing number of
developing countries turning to the private sector to
improve urban water and sanitation services. The
country's first major contract in the sector, a
twenty-five-year concession for the neighboring cities of La
Paz and El Alto, was implemented in August 1997. A primary
objective in moving to a private concession was to expand
services to low-income households while holding down costs
by increasing efficiency. It is not a foregone conclusion
that the new concessionaire will do a better job of
expanding service; much will depend on how well the contract
and sector regulation have been designed. Because the La
Paz-El Alto concession was explicitly designed to expand
service to the poor, this concession is a good case study
for evaluating how different provisions in the contract and
the sector regulation may help or hinder service expansion.
