How to shape an enabling environment for sustainable water service delivery in Nigeria

This case study examines urban water service delivery reform in Nigeria using qualitative research methods that include a review of relevant project documentation, a literature review on water reform and governance issues in Nigeria, and process tracing (collecting primary source qualitative data through semi-structured interviews). In 2004, the federal government of Nigeria joined with the World Bank to address the institutional weaknesses of urban water utilities under the National Urban Water Sector Reform Project (NUWSRP1). The NUWSRP1’s objective was to increase access to piped water supply in selected urban areas by improving the reliability and financial viability of selected urban water utilities in the states of Enugu, Kaduna, and Ogun. Yet while the NUWSRP1, in its nine years of implementation, achieved (and even surpassed) targets for investment in rehabilitation and expansion, it did not perform as strongly on the institutional reforms needed to ensure sustainability.