ELDOWAS
Becoming the African Centre of Excellence for Water & Sanitation
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Progressing access to water in Uasin Gishu county and the town of Eldoret is the job of ELDOWAS – the water utility for the region that is showing the rest of the competition how to keep water flowing and how to ensure it will run for all in the future. MD Peter Kibet Arap Biwott tells Enterprise Africa about a three-pronged approach to long-term success and sustainability.
According to global water and sanitation non-profit Water.org, 15 million people in Kenya lack access to safe water. Growing demand, increasing scarcity, and climate change are drivers of the imbalance. The problem is representative of the East African region as a whole where water security remains a problem. According to a recent UN report on water security in Africa, water feeds life and is a backbone of health, economic activity, ecosystems, governance, financing, and political stability. Security is just as much about management as it is about stock levels.
But, in every challenge flows opportunity and Kenya is a good example of how, through innovation and global cooperation, major structural problems can begin to be addressed. Since 2005, Water.org has helped connect 6.5 million people to safe water infrastructure. The country has become increasingly savvy with its water resource management and, while much remains to be done, progress is underway.
In the Rift Valley, Eldoret is the capital of the Uasin Gishu county. The town is among Kenya’s top five in terms of population size. Water is a challenge here with the town at the centre of the region’s major grain and agricultural industry. Textiles and fertiliser industries also consume heavy water reserves, and management of the resource in the region is vital.
Responsible for the management and provision of water across Eldoret is ELDOWAS – the Eldoret Water and Sanitation Company. Managing Director Peter Kibet Arap Biwott, an experienced executive across various sectors, explains that improvements are underway in Eldoret and new investments will further the good work that has been done to secure safe and reliable water supply to the town.
500,000 PEOPLE
“We are a utility of water and sanitation within a municipality of about 500,000 people,” he says of the company’s significance, highlighting ELDOWAS as among the top 10 of the around 100 water utility companies in Kenya.
The country has a national development plan which aims for access to basic water and sanitation for all by 2030. With utility reforms that began in 2002 helping to attract some millions of dollars in funding, Kenya’s water resources reached around 500 cubic meters per person but the country remains challenged with water scarcity. More financing is required, and improved infrastructure and service delivery is essential.
Biwott is positioning ELDOWAS as the example to follow. Three key areas of focus will allow the business to achieve its vision of becoming the most customer-centric company in Kenya.
“Climate action, infrastructure investment, and customer service excellence will help us achieve our mandate,” he says.
Across the county, fresh initiatives are being put in place to protect and mitigate against changes in climate, where the temperatures and droughts have increased in recent years. “The long-lasting drought in the Horn of Africa threatens a humanitarian catastrophe,” said WMO Secretary-General Prof Petteri Taalas, in a report on the past decade’s average heat increases.
Key in the challenge is increasing conservation from both the private and public sector, and individuals. “We do participate in climate action because we have to control and restore our catchment areas so that we can have a sustainable supply of clean and potable water to our residents,” says Biwott.
“Currently, we are working on the adoption of green energy with a view of reducing costs. We are also designing a programme called the Eldoret-Iten Water Fund (EIWF), which is funded by the international organisation to promote green energy, water conservation, forestation, and modern farming methods in the catchment area to help improve productivity.
“We are also promoting new methods in agriculture, especially in the area of livestock-keeping, and we are looking at carbon credit projects to help us move forward in a smart way.”
In 2019, the company adopted solar power at its Kesses Water Supply plant, and put plans in place to power HQ with green solar energy. The EIWF is a project that involved private and public sector organisations and promises the restoration and improvement of 120,000 hectares of land, the growth of a staggering one million trees, the construction of 2,000 water pans for household use and irrigation, and the installation of 10 water quality and quantity monitoring stations. Working alongside the Nature Conservancy, ELDOWAS will educate and support farmers, communities, and companies to change their approach to water usage to ensure conservation.
“With the Eldoret-Iten Water Fund, we’re securing clean water for the City of Champions, preserving our natural heritage, and empowering communities,” says Biwott.
INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT
As EIWF gains traction and money flows deeper into the region, infrastructure requirements will change and the company will be able to make the most of assets that are already in place, improving efficiency and service quality.
“We have a business plan,” states Biwott. “We are finalising development of a treatment works which is in construction. We are set to build another dam, and we are looking at the water catchment area and conservation projects. We are also looking at a reduction of water loss which we want to drastically decrease. These are some of the priorities alongside enhancing customer service and experience, both internal and external. The dam project and treatment plant has been underway for two years and we hope to complete this year.”
Reducing loss is essential following a challenging period for all business as the Covid-19 pandemic made business uncertain and difficult, especially for utilities companies that stood at the forefront of the fallout.
“There was a lot of problems,” admits Biwott. “We lost business, but luckily we remained with 20% of our billing and payments. People felt that water was a free to use commodity because government policy was not to deny anybody water as it was essential in preventing the spread of Covid. But we have recovered with the support of government and the World Bank and we remain on the path to recovery.”
CUSTOMER CENTRICITY
Part of the recovery success has been thanks to ELDOWAS being active with marketing and communications and displaying its work to the community it serves. By generating interest in water and how it is managed, and then implementing world-class customer service standards, the company has been able to build a brand that is becoming recognised in Eldoret and further afield as an industry leader. Biwott wants to continue with this positivity and ensure every interaction with customers is seamless.
“I want us to be the most customer centric and customer focussed company, ensuring that we have sufficient water for the municipality by completing the water treatment plant and another dam. We are very keen on securing our catchment through conservation. I want a happy and motivated team that is productive, with enhanced governance to ensure that we reduce non-revenue water and operate with productive ethics. We want to be inline with global standards around human rights, environment, sustainably livelihoods and business, and good corporate citizenship,” he explains.
“We are working to enhance our revenue collection through our customer service experience. Our revenue will grow as long as we can fix some of the challenges we face around non-revenue water and water tariffs.”
Around 265 permanent employees (300 including contractors) have helped to build the brand, and Biwott reminds that, internally, there is a focus on being the best.
“We believe we are the best because our water is the best in the country, and that is because of the catchment area we are in,” he says of the desire to maintain and conserve the valuable resource.
“For us, the priority is climate action,” he adds. “When we get this right, we won’t need to continue building dams. We must have a continuous supply of water in the area and that is our main focus, while ensuring we don’t have water loss to the extent we have currently.”
In Eldoret, ELDOWAS is targeting 100% coverage for water and sanitation across the region by 2030, taking more and more people out of water poverty and addressing the backlog in Kenya. Managing supply as well as building strategic resources is the priority. Biwott has free-flowing ambitions, and progress is being made.
“My aim is to become a centre of excellence on the African continent in the provision of water and sanitation,” he concludes.