ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes how the paradigm of the commercialization of water provisioning took shape and was implemented in small towns in Mozambique. The overall policy model that was adopted in Mozambique for the provision of water services is that of the Delegated Management Framework (DMF). The institutional framework for providing water services in Mozambique consists of a series of regulations and polices, the majority of which was espoused in the 1990s. FIPAG signed the first 15-year concession contract in 1999 with an international consortium called Aguas de Mozambique for the management of the water systems in Maputo. The approach of fully rehabilitating water systems and then transferring them to private operators however, ran into trouble as many systems experienced start-up problems. The DMF exists in the global and national policy domain, where it is promoted by donors and Mozambican water sector agencies.
