Rolfe Eberhard

Rolfe has a PhD in Economics and over 25 years of experience advising governments and development agencies on water policy, institutional reform, regulation and utility management, primarily in Africa. He advises the City of Cape Town on the implementation of their Water Strategy after the “Day Zero” drought. Rolfe was the lead drafter of the Cape Town Water Strategy. He advises the South African Minister of Water on economic regulation as a member of the Regulatory Commission, and National Treasury on financial and institutional reforms to turnaround water services in South Africa’s cities. He advises and supports KfW, GIZ and VEI in the implementation of the Urban Water Catalyst Initiative, launched at the UN Water Conference in New York in March 2023. Rolfe was instrumental in developing the concept of an integrated technical and financial assistance offering to support urban water utilities to transition to financial sustainability. He was a co-author of the 2016 World Bank publication ‘Providing Water to Poor People in African Cities Effectively: Lessons from Utility reform.’ He led a review of African urban water reforms in five African countries for GIZ in 2017/2018. He advised the Kenyan government on devolution in the water sector in the period 2011 to 2017, working with the World Bank and GIZ. He convened a leadership program for African water utility CEOs in 2014 for the World Bank and convened a peer network and knowledge exchange forum for water utility manages in South African cities in the period 2003 to 2014. Rolfe was a lead drafter of the South African water services policy in 2003. Rolfe co-convened, with the National Treasury, University of Cape Town and the World Bank, a leadership program for the mayors and city managers for the eight metros in South Africa in 2012 and co-designed the 2017 program. Rolfe facilitated peer reviews of the Tanzanian and Kenya water regulators in 2013 and 2014 working with the CEOs of the Southern and Eastern African water regulators. Rolfe works independently as an international water adviser.