(Business in Cameroon) - On April 15, 2021, on the government media CRTV, national water utility CAMWATER estimated its monthly losses to water frauds at XAF1 billion.  

"In Yaoundé alone, fraudsters who are connected to our facilities and have faulty meters cause a XAF600 million loss monthly. The monthly losses we record [due to those frauds] in the whole country is about XAF1 billion," the company reveals. This means that CAMWATER records XAF12 billion losses annually to frauds.

The company adds that to put an end to these practices, it intends to enhance the security at its facilities and switch to smart meters. With the conventional meters currently used by CAMWATER, the readings and the bills are always disputed by clients. However, with the smart meters, the consumptions will be read electronically while disputes will be reduced.

For the time being, in urban areas, 77% of the households have access to drinking water against 45% in rural areas, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS). On April 30, 2018, CAMWATER took over the drinking water production and distribution, which was devolved to the Cameroon Water Company (CDE) since 2008.

Sylvain Andzongo