Presentation of Baseline and Market Analysis Reports

A meeting was held on the 8th of February 2018 between SkyFox limited and its partner Ghana Water Company Limited to share and adopt both the baseline survey and the Market Analysis Research reports. In attendance were 17 top management and staff of the company including the chief Manager Commercial services unit Gyakabere K. Amponsem, the Manager Low Income Consumers Unit Faustina Boachie, the Commercial Manager Tema District and District Commercial Managers far and near Accra. The board of the company was also represented by Serena Kwakye-Mintah
A presentation was made on these relevant documents to the amazement of the staffs of the company. In their view these documents were true reflections of the company’s problems. Even though the company wasn’t show shock of the report some thought the situation was exaggerated. Others were of the view that the situation was so grave than what was actually presented. In this mix situations it was affirmed that there was the need to tap in the project as a matter of urgency to resolve most of the challenges facing the company. Very important outcome in this meeting was the need for a scale up and the sustainability of the project. The company according to the Chief Manager Commercial Services Unit could adopt this project going forward after a successful pilot and have therefore decided in a matter of one week to expand the working committee that will see to the success of the project.
SkyFox limited identified five pathways of Non- Revenue Water that when addressed could solve the canker that has persistently affected the operations of the company. These pathways contributes to about 51% of Non-Revenue e.g. Non Registered customers (7%), unpaid bills (6 %), unbilled and under billed authorized customers (5%), physical losses (30%) and theft/illegal connections (52%). A total amount of 60 million dollars was lost in revenue through theft, illegal connections and leakage in the year 2015 which further explains the aggravation of the problem. This funds could have constructed more infrastructure to expand water coverage to other areas that are lagging in water accessibility.
The Market Analysis Research recommended an integration of the sms system and the e-billing system of Ghana Water Company Limited, a joint monitoring team in the pilot and also for both partners to focus on households whose meters are good and readable. These recommendations were seen as effective recommendations that could help reduce the Non-Revenue water situation. The company however was of the view that if the project should achieve its purpose of reducing Non-revenue water then the project should consider tackling it from the production centres to the distributions centres. This could allow accurate measurement of how much water is been produced and the amount sold out. Transmissions, distributions, churning lines, under measurements and estimation were also grave challenges that the project tackles to achieve a greater impact of the Non-Revenue Water challenge.
The company was optimistic that the project could help reduce Non-Revenue Water to at least 35% and are willing to buy in and support the pilot phase of the project. Proposals will also be made to management to scale up the project to cover the entire country when the pilot proves successful. An expanded working group was therefore recommended to support the implementation of the roll out.
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