In August 1995, as a result of an international public tender, Aguas Provinciales de Santa Fé was awarded a 30-year concession to provide potable water and sewerage services to fifteen districts. The districts are scattered across the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, and include major cities such as Rosario and the provincial capital Santa Fe. The company provides potable water to about 1.8 million customers and sewerage services to 1.25 million customers. The company has to invest in assets in accordance with a detailed plan as set forth by the concession.

The company''s investment program requires total capital outlays of US$150.7 million. The focus of this plan is on water treatment facilities and supply network expansion (US$65.4 million), waste water collection network, treatment plants and equipment (US$56.8 million). Under this plan the company would install about 10,000 new water supply connections and 17,000 new sewer connections, of which the sewer connections have already been mostly completed during 1999. During 1999 the company completed construction of two wastewater treatment plants and rehabilitation of others. Furthermore, the company would improve supply systems in rural areas by drilling additional wells and improving drinking water quality for rural communities. The plans for future capital works are currently under discussion with the provincial authorities and are subject to change.

IFC will finance this concession since long-term funding, of the tenor that is appropriate to the nature of this project, is currently unavailable in Argentina and in international capital markets. This is particularly so for a provincial concession that is exposed to full sub-sovereign risk. In addition, the instability in financial markets brought about by recent events in Brazil and other countries are compounded by uncertainty about Argentina’s political future and have led to restricted credit in Argentina. Finally, the demonstration effect of a successful financing of a provincial concession could prove to be very important in the efforts to privatize and finance smaller utilities worldwide.

The company''s investment program will provide much needed Water & Sanitation infrastructure to the people of Santa Fe, in particular the extension of the supply and sewer networks are important as they are focused on the poorer neighboorhoods and rural towns of Santa Fe. These areas typically tend to have inhabitants of lesser resources and connecting to water and sanitation services is of prime importance for living conditions (a fact corroborated by public sector projects such as those implemented by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD or the World Bank) and the Inter-American Dvelopment Bank (IADB). Also, after many years of minimal investment in the system, the service levels to existing customer''s had deteriorated and the current investments also aim at providing an acceptable service level to those already connected to the system. For example, it is estimated that around the city of Rosario about 200,000 people live in non-formal housing and a large percentage of them have minimal access to W&S services. In summary, APSF''s investments will be used to continue connecting new customers and upgrading the service of existing users.