Case study

Alexandria Water Company, Egypt

Developing a leading Middle East water utility through a unique turnkey approach to corporatization

In the mid-1990s, the Government of Egypt initiated reform of the water and wastewater sector to make it more competitive and efficient. PA Consulting Group worked with the Alexandria Water Company (AWCO), formerly the Alexandria Water General Authority, to improve utility governance and prepare it to operate as a commercially viable company. Previously, the utility’s management and financial performance was well below viability – customer water deliveries were not measured accurately, many customers were behind on paying their bills, inefficient manual processes resulted in too many staff, management and staff did not have the skills for automation, and utility revenues did not cover the cost of service.

PA developed a turnkey approach to corporatization that used a team structure from the project’s start. Team members included AWCO managers and staff as well as PA consultants. Our turnkey approach was successful because it facilitated an interactive process that built the skills and systems AWCO needed to develop into a commercially viable company. PA effectively helped AWCO improve utility governance and develop commercial practices by encouraging wide participation of AWCO employees to buy into and take charge of corporatization – this was our intention when we conceived the turnkey approach, as reflected in project design and delivery, and as evidenced by our results.