Performance assessment and monitoring of water infrastructure: an empirical case study of benchmarking in Uganda

Performance monitoring and benchmarking are increasingly becoming vital performance drivers especially in utilities where strong tariff incentive applications are not readily applicable. In this paper, performance improvement initiatives in the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), Uganda are presented, incorporating practical benchmarking and performance monitoring approaches. A detailed empirical study of the influence of commercial/customer orientation on technical efficiency is outlined using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) benchmarking techniques. After a long spell of heavy engineering orientation in a water utility, a shift to significant commercial/customer orientation is positively associated with a reduction in technical inefficiency.