Management Assistance for the City of Mutare, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has suffered from economic and political sanctions for the past 20 years. The result – severely deteriorated infrastructure, including water and sanitation. This has led to water borne diseases and death. Last year, in two months alone there were 23 suspected cases of Cholera (7 confirmed) in Mutare. In the first five months of 2019 there were 464 reported cases of diarrhoea for those older than five and 615 cases for children under the age of five. The rainy season (October to April) is approaching and with it risk of further sickness and death.

In 2010, after a severe 2008 cholera outbreak, seven European countries agreed to assist Zimbabwe through the ZimFund. Australia, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom were the donors. The Fund became a $145 million water, sanitation, and energy program. The African Development Bank managed the fund which is now nearing its completion. A leading Zimbabwean engineer asked ROCKBlue to intervene to help sustain those investments. We accepted and are now working with four of the municipalities, including Mutare.

Key Needs

• 24/7 water to the unserved
• To dramatically reduce NRW
• To improve collections
• Prevent acute risk of illnesses and death

The Challenges

Our goal is to help the city regain full service and to overcome its shocking statistics including:

• Non-revenue Water (NRW) >60%
• Customers owing over $2M in unpaid bills
• Many kilometers of asbestos cement pipe, well past its useful life
• Major areas only receiving water 1X every three days for a few hours
• Only 71.4% of the service area supplied with water
• Only able to collect <10% of their bills
• No access to foreign currency
• Unregulated peri-urban settlements
• Improper disposal of wastewater
• Power outages affecting both water and wastewater treatment

Priority Assistance

Under an MOU with the City of Mutare, the municipality charged with providing potable water and sanitation to over 180,000 people, ROCKBlue assists their senior management team with:

• NRW reduction
• Meter installations/replacements/repair
• Construction of service reservoirs
• Pipe replacements (AC and steel)
• GIS-based mapping

Expected Results

ROCKBlue is partnering with the City of Mutare, to identify priorities to regain essential services and, eventually, to become a corporatized operation. Expected near term improvements from ROCKBlue’s engagement include:

• Improved quality of service to 188K people
• Increased water coverage for Dangamvura and Gimboki (5,300 unincorporated properties) and then Dora, Triang of Raheen, Federation and stand 1965
• Increased sanitation coverage for the above-named areas
• Reduced NRW to an achievable amount (e.g., <40%)
• Access to $200M of grant funding