Operations and maintenance: A crisis in Africa

In many developing countries, especially in Africa, there is a perception that new things do not need maintenance. This attitude is a major obstacle to the achievement of any kind of sustainability in development and the cause of failure in numerous African projects and programmes. This failure to accord due importance to operations and maintenance (O&M) is attributable to a number of factors. Since the scope of activities and services performed as part of O&M is immensely wide, however, we have decided in the present article to focus our discussion on some of the challenges hindering the effectiveness of O&M generally and to give particular attention to road-building and water projects and technical assistance programmes in Africa.

1. LACK OF APPRECIATION OF THE PROBLEM

During the design of projects, planners and designers often disregard O&M-related issues. Often, the question of O&M is not considered at all and, if it is, those who dare to raise the issue are treated as disruptive and time-wasters. Even the authorities all too often are happy to believe that, if equipment is new, it can be expected to function without further attention for a considerable period of time. As a result – returning to our example roads in Africa – upon completion of a new road, the appearance of potholes and cracks creates alarm only when they become big and actually pose a danger to traffic. When budget allocations are made for O&M these are always the first items to be reduced or removed when cuts are called for.

In its 2014 deliberations, the World Economic Forum (WEF) acknowledged that O&M activities have little political visibility and that long-term maintenance requirements tend to be ignored in short-term political cycles. The Forum concluded that O&M costs could not always be easily recovered from user charges, that requests for price increases to cover O&M were invariably opposed and that increased charges sometimes resulted in more payment evasion.

Key stakeholders (governments, donors and the private sector) must change their attitudes to O&M and ensure that O&M requirements are factored into all projects, so as to help ensure that equipment attain their planned life-span.

2. LACK OF ADEQUATE FINANCIAL RESOURCES

The O&M budgets of many development projects normally represent only a small percentage of total costs, usually in the range of some 3–5 per cent. This, at any rate, is the case with UN-funded projects, where an allocation is routinely made for the maintenance of a project's vehicles and equipment. Where projects in so-called “crisis” countries are concerned, a relatively large component is allocated for equipment and materials and, accordingly, there is usually a sizeable budget line for maintenance. The World Bank (2015) reports that, for water systems using ram (gravity) pumps in the Philippines and Pakistan, O&M estimates range between 1.5 and 2.4 per cent of capital costs, while for roads the range is between 3 and 10 per cent. Similarly, the Bank shows O&M costs of 2–8 per cent for school buildings and 4.4 per cent for health-care centres.

Emerson (2003) notes that, when financial pressures build, O&M budgets are among the first to be cut. While the funding may be cut, the need for O&M remains indispensable, so alternative sources of money have to be found. Not surprisingly, these are few and far between, and O&M requirements are often simply neglected: buildings quickly become dilapidated, roads break up and infrastructure decays and falls apart, sometimes so a point where repair is no longer an option and the only solution is to rebuild, to start again from scratch.

Where roads are concerned, however, one relatively successful and non-intrusive means of recovering funds for O&M after the completion of a project is the imposition of tolls. This practice has a long and impressive history: roads have been tolled at least since the seventeenth century and the system has recently made something of a comeback, with some countries allowing the private sector to build toll roads for profit. Thus, following the example of South Africa and Morocco, in 2009 Zimbabwe instituted tolls on its major roads. The system is not fool-proof, however, and Mbara et al. (2010) report such problems in the operation of the toll system as revenue mismanagement, mistrust between revenue collectors and users, high costs and insufficient traffic. Despite these problems, the toll road system has almost doubled the money available for the O&M of Zimbabwe’s roads.

In Kenya, tolling was introduced in the 1990s but collapsed under the weight of corruption, as did the issuance of road licenses, the other common source of funds for roads. Levik (2002) cites another example, from Ethiopia, which established a road fund in 1997 to maintain all public roads. This was funded by a levy on fuel, which was paid directly to the fund by the fuel companies. Although this meant an increase of 12.5 per cent on pump prices, the public – exasperated by the continuing deterioration of the nation’s roads and persuaded of the potential benefits of the system – accepted the new tax without undue complaint. Kenya has now instituted the same system and each new or repaired road carries signs saying the work was paid for from levy funds.

These relatively encouraging examples notwithstanding, the history of road funds in Africa, Latin America and Asia has generally been characterized by insufficient revenue, poor governance and low operational efficiency (WEF, 2014). On the positive side, WEF (2014) reports that the Austrian road fund has avoided underfunding by annually adjusting its toll pricing using a formula based on the consumer price index.

In the water sector, Kelly (2009) summarizes a report prepared by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) criticizing donors, governments and NGOs for installing boreholes and wells in Africa without ensuring their long-term sustainability. The IIED report examines the specific example of Katine, in Uganda, where the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) found a well so badly constructed and full of soil and animal faeces that it made local people sick. In response to such problems, AMREF has been training local communities to operate and maintain their water points safely. As Kelly (2009) points out, “there needs to be a proper assessment of just how much local people are able to finance these water points. It is not enough to drill and walk away”. Levik (2002), stresses that, no matter how small the maintenance budget, it will still make a difference, especially if accompanied by proper planning and the right priorities.

3. INADEQUATE SKILLS

Even when development programmes make appropriate provisions for O&M, they must often surmount the challenge posed by the lack of skilled personnel. In many technical assistance projects, O&M activities are outsourced: those related to capital assistance to large-scale projects generally do not cater for O&M. Some countries have established government O&M units to repair vehicles and other equipment; elsewhere this function is outsourced to the private sector. Frequently in African countries responsibility for O&M – especially that relating to roads and buildings – is assigned to the ministry of public works. According to WEF (2014), however, most O&M units are understaffed or under-skilled because the jobs on offer are unappealing to professionals.

Fortunately, there are good examples that African countries can follow. One described by WEF (2014) is the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), which, although it does not have its own university, decided to set up an apprentice school at which it has now trained over 8,000 employees. In addition, ACP has dedicated maintenance professionals. Further, organizations such as the worldwide hotel chains Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide and Intercontinental Hotels Group have set up a department in each hotel for engineering and maintenance that conforms to local environmental, health, safety and building codes, standards and regulations. These and other examples around the world should be instructive to African countries, suggesting good practices that may be espoused. Moreover given that the importance of O&M the African governments should encourage hands-on training and the periodic upgrading of skills.

4. LACK OF O&M POLICY

In many African countries there is no specific policy for O&M: most of the work in this area is performed on an ad hoc basis. Yet an O&M policy could regulate, for instance, the types of boreholes and wells that are installed and the manner in which they are maintained. Added to which, an O&M policy would assist African governments at various levels, local, national and regional, in conducting regular assessments of the existing assets and securing the projected O&M funding. This exercise, as indicated by WEF (2014), would ensure coordination with individual donor agencies, ministries, departments and other stakeholders.

In the transport sector, it makes perfect sense that African governments should turn to road maintenance contractors for the provision of O&M (World Bank, 2005). This approach has been successful because of the strong commitment of local communities, reinforced in particular by the employment of local people in various functions alongside the roads, and, in turn, this has created the incentive to keep the roads in good repair (World Bank, 2005). In its report (2005), the World Bank demonstrates how the governments of Lesotho and Zambia adopted a policy of using local road maintenance contractors to maintain rural and urban roads, and this in turn helped create further employment opportunities.

These examples, together with similar cases from Latin America, offer valuable lessons to the countries of Africa. The overwhelming message from all such success stories is that well-designed strategies and policies on O&M boost the efficiency of countries’ infrastructure services, strengthen their competitiveness and foster socio-economic progress and prosperity. At the same time, effective O&M policy helps increase the effective use, expands the availability and prolongs the life of their assets.

5. RECORDS AND DATA

Generally speaking, African countries lack the necessary data to help plan and coordinate their O&M activities with other functions and, except in certain individual projects, it is difficult for them to determine the costs of O&M. The World Bank (2009) agrees that estimating the costs of O&M is a challenge for many programmes: these costs vary in accordance with the type of investment, technology and design options and local conditions (World Bank, 2009). Notably, data on the cost of adequate maintenance programmes for a range of water facilities are inadequate. There is a lack of data on which technologies work best, and where, and there are no documented best practices for sustainable rural water services (Rukunga et al., 2005). Reliable financial data would also help implementers design appropriate maintenance programmes for different facilities. Such data would also assist in the development of sustainable financing and maintenance initiatives

CONCLUSIONS

From the foregoing, it is clear that a determined and systematic approach to O&M is indispensable to the proper planning, budgeting and implementation of project and programme activities in Africa. Given the steady decline in external assistance, O&M should be seen as a responsibility shared with all stakeholders. In this context, we may look at schools as an example: many of them include the costs of maintenance in their reports to school management boards and parents.

As indicated earlier, despite some challenges, the introduction of tolls and user fees could be expanded to assist with the O&M of roads and bridges. African governments should develop national policies mandating the inclusion of O&M issues in programme documents and should ensure that the necessary funds are allocated in their budgets. In addition, government organizations should all have peripatetic, qualified teams to carry out basic O&M on project and programme equipment: if the work is complex, then it should be outsourced to relevant private sector providers.

As WEF (2014) confirms, there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to O&M, and different approaches are needed according to country, sector, asset size and criticality. Given the necessary political will by policymakers and recognition by stakeholders of its critical importance, O&M can be institutionalized in Africa. Regular and properly administered O&M will reduce the rate of deterioration and prolong the life of assets, slow the need for costly replacements and, most important, save much time and money.

* Ambassador Dr. John O Kakonge is a freelance Principal Consultant and Adviser.

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