1 Intro

Central Region Waterboard (CRWB) is one of the 5 State Owned Parastatal Water utilities in Malawi. It entered into a Water Operators Partnership with VEI starting Jan 2022, under the WWX programme. The project activities will last until Dec 2026.

The WWX project uses 11 main processes to monitor the performance of the utility and guide the project activities.

At the CRWB WWX project, the focus lies currently on the 4 operational “Main Processes” of:

• Asset management
• Water production
• Water distribution
• Commercial operations.

HR-management is not identified as a focal Main Process (though OHS identification is part of project activities), but could be taken on in the future.CRWB has identified four strategic themes in their 2021-2026 Integrated Strategic and Implementation Plan (ISIP)

Theme 1: Water supply and Sanitation Services:

                To ensure a reliable water supply and sanitation services.

Theme 2: Financial Stewardship:

                 To ensure financial sustainability

Theme 3: Institutional capacity:

                To improve organisational performance

Theme 4: Internal processes:

                To enhance service delivery

Though the main processes from WWX are not a complete match with the strategic themes from CRWB, there is a definite overlap to be found between the four CRWB Themes. This overlap is presented below, where the four themes (Rectangular boxes) and their overlap with the four operational Main Processes (coloured circles) of WWX are shown.

Narrative of WWX Project Activities

To achieve the desired maturity levels at the end of the WWX project period (Dec 2026) CRWB and VEI will:

1. Work on digitizing its assets into GIS and start recording of the performance of the assets digitally.
2. Translating company performance targets into performance levels, acceptable risk levels and prioritization mechanisms to enable CRWB to         tailor maintenance and direct available CAPEX and OPEX to the highest priorities.
3. Evaluate and record maintenance practices into SOP’s to create uniformity in maintenance practices and allow for better planning of activities.

To enable the above CRWB will set up a first basic version Technical MIS alongside its financial MIS, and a.o. develop monitoring programs on water quality and water quantity. All the insights above will also allow CRWB in the future to work on a sustainable water resources plan that can be used to attract donor funding. Insights above will also allow CRWB in the future to work on a sustainable water resources plan that can be used to attract donor funding.

2 Summary

The CRWB WaterWorX project started in January 2022 and will last until Dec 2026. This Water Operator partnership between VEI and CRWB aims at improving the maturity of the water board and contribute to reaching the SDG6 goals.In Q3 no Dutch experts visited the project. Originally in September 2 experts would come, but this was postponed to November due to health reasons. However Dutch experts have been actively involved in several aspects of project activities.

As part of the VEI planning cycle a draft planning for the expert missions for 2023 was made.