...On average, cities and towns in Africa are growing at 5 percent per annumfaster than anywhere else in the world. Water service providers face considerable challenges to meet this growing demand, and most lack the resources to do so. The current revenue flows of most also fall far short of requirements to fund investments and run services effectively for these rapidly growing populations. Meeting the demand, especially in the rapidly expanding unserved poor settlements, requires new thinking and innovation. This is one reason why there has been a surge in interest among sub-Saharan African water service providers in prepaid water systems. Their track record so far has been mixed. Some have not been unable to sustain these systems, but others are delivering results that are sufficiently promising to mitigate potential risks.Prepaid water remains controversial, however. Proponents see it as a way to improve customer relations, revenue, and access to services; critics complain about technical unreliability, high capital and maintenance costs, and a system they see as penalizing poor customer

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