The Managing Director of Ghana Water Limited (GWL), Adam Mutawakilu, has disclosed that 62 out of every 100 commercial meters inspected by the company are not captured in its database.
He described the finding as worrying, saying it highlights gaps in the company’s records that could be affecting revenue mobilisation.
According to Mr Mutawakilu, Ghana Water is replacing meters as part of efforts to strengthen revenue collection and reduce its dependence on government funding.
“We are doing replacement of meters as we speak, and it is good to know that so far, what we are covering is quite worrying, because for every hundred commercial meters that we are on estimates, we discover 62 that are not in our database,” he said when he appeared before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday, October 13.
He said improving revenue collection was a key priority, noting that the company was currently raising less than half of the revenue it should be generating.
“The first one is revenue. I believe that what we are raising now is less than 50% of what we should have raised, and we are working round the clock to improve our revenue to be able to financially sustain us,” he said.
Mr Mutawakilu expressed optimism that the ongoing measures would help Ghana Water become financially self-sustaining by 2027, with sufficient revenue to finance its projects without depending on government support.
He, however, said the company would also need government assistance to address legacy loans and improve its balance sheet.
According to him, converting legacy loans that have largely been repaid into equity would strengthen the company’s financial position and help it manage foreign exchange losses associated with loan repayments.
He said the company’s weak equity position was limiting its ability to attract significant investment, making government intervention necessary alongside efforts to improve revenue collection.