The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) realised a total water revenue of GH¢1,232.50 million, in 2022, marking a 37 per cent increase from the previous year, the Managing Director, Dr Clifford A. Braimah, has said.
The growth, he said was due to enhanced billing accuracy, streamlined payment processes, debt recovery efforts, and the introduction of various digital payment channels, as well as educational campaigns encouraging timely payments and tariff adjustments.
Dr Braimah disclosed this at a press briefing and exhibition on the theme: ‘Accounting to Customers’, in Accra yesterday.
The event being the second edition accounting to their customers aimed to update the public on the achievements and interventions it had undertaken during the year under review and chart the way forward towards improving its service delivery.
Dr Braimah said total volume of water sold in 2022 was 173.5 million cubic metres of water, representing a 0.5 per cent increase from the previous year.
“Our Marketing unit conducts regular consumer surveys to identify areas with low or no water flow, allowing us to provide strategic interventions to meet customer needs and increase water sales,” he added.
He said the total billing for 2022 reached GH¢1,370.8 million, marking a 13 per cent increase from the previous year.
The rise, he said was as a result of efforts to implement an efficient billing system, proactive measures against billing discrepancies, and tariff adjustments.
The managing director indicated that, electronic payments transaction amounted to GH¢123.3 million in 2022, adding that as of August 2023, the monthly average revenues from electronic payments reached GH¢16.9 million, from over 86,000 transactions.
“Projections indicate that water revenues from electronic payments will reach GH¢203 million by the end of 2023, marking a 65 per cent surge from the 2022 figure,” he added.
He stated that the company served 923,000 customers, with 99 per cent being private accounts and one per cent being government as of August 2023.
However, he indicated that their customer base was projected to grow to 939,000 by the end of 2023, representing a six per cent increase compared to the previous year.
“This growth is attributed to various factors, including our focus on customer engagement, service quality, and economic development. We also credit our success to targeted marketing strategies, community outreach, and strategic partnerships to attract new customers,” the M.D. noted.
Dr Braimah said, though the company was faced with myriads of challenges that affected its operations, his outfit was determined to surmount them.
Some of the challenges, he itemised, included illegal mining activities, sand winning and pollution of river bodies resulting in high turbidity which increased treatment and production cost.
Water thefts through illegal connections and meter by-passes, he said contributed immensely to unaccounted water and called on the public to report such acts.
The Minister of Water and Sanitation, Dr Freda Prempeh, commended management and staff of GWCL for their hardwork and dedication in ensuring that Ghanaians had safe drinking water.
She urged the public to consume and protect the country’s water bodies for safety consumption.
BY VIVIAN ARTHUR & CYNTHIA ASAMPANA
