(Business in Cameroon) - Cameroon’s water utility wrote a note claiming CFA10.3 billion from the government for unpaid water bills.

In the letter sent last August 10 to Louis Paul Motaze, the Minister of Finance, the company’s MD, Gervais Bolenga (pictured), said the state owes arrears from the beginning of 2018 through the end of June 2022.

"To ensure better water supply and continue to cover our expenses (salaries, treatment products, maintenance of production stations ...), I have the honor to request, unless there is better assessment, the payment of the remaining receivables related to the water consumption of public administrations of the years 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 amounting to 4,300,000,000 FCFA. The debts incurred for the first half of 2022 (6,000,000,000 FCFA in particular) are also pending payment, for a total of 10,300,000,000 FCFA in unpaid bills. Please accept, Mr. Minister, the assurances of my highest consideration," the August 10 letter reads. Almost a month later, Camwater is still awaiting payment of the debt, we learned.

As a reminder, the water company launched a “permanent and aggressive campaign” in November 2021 to recover unpaid bills. As of 30 September 2021, the overall amount of unpaid bills owed by all its customers was CFA61.306 billion. In detail, public administrations owed CFA31.265 billion, followed by active individuals (CFA18.877 billion),  individuals and other customers whose contracts were terminated for non-payment (CFA4.442 billion), decentralized local authorities (CTD) (more than CFA3 billion), and large active consumers (CFA2.363 billion). Eneo, the electricity utility, also owed CFA836.114 million.

A 2020 report published by the Technical Commission for the Rehabilitation of Public and Para-public Sector Enterprises (CTR) however revealed that the Cameroonian government paid a little more than CFA30 billion in water debt for 2018-2020.

S.A.