Cameroon’s Water Utility Turns to Smart Meters to Recover More Revenue

Cameroon’s state-owned water utility Camwater has awarded Chinese company Hangzhou Laison Technology Company Limited a CFA721.76 million contract to deploy 3,000 smart water meters, the first batch of a much larger program designed to improve billing and recover more revenue.

The decision was signed on August 17, 2026, by Camwater Managing Director Blaise Moussa and published on August 26 by the Public Procurement Regulatory Agency (ARMP).

The contract covers the supply, installation and commissioning of the 3,000 meters, along with communication equipment, an IT platform with servers and software, 10 handheld terminals and an interface with payment systems. It also includes system testing and training for Camwater employees.

Tender documents identify Bonabéri in Douala and Odza in Yaoundé as pilot areas but do not specify how the meters will be divided between them.

Laison’s CFA721.76 million offer is CFA278.24 million, or 27.8%, below Camwater’s estimated cost of CFA1 billion. Dividing the contract value by the 3,000 meters gives about CFA240,588 per device, but that figure is not a unit price because the contract also covers the IT platform, communication equipment, installation, testing and training.

The award decision and tender documents set a 180-day completion period from the date Camwater issues the notice to proceed. Another section of the tender notice published by ARMP, however, gives a 200-day timeframe. The final contract will need to resolve the discrepancy. No firm completion date can yet be established because the date of the notice to proceed has not been made public.

First batch represents 7.5% of the target

The 3,000 meters represent 7.5% of the 40,000 devices that the IMPACT program — Improving Performance, Accountability and Transparency — plans to deploy for active commercial customers in Douala and Yaoundé.

In its February 2025 program assessment, the World Bank estimated that acquiring and deploying all 40,000 meters would cost between $6 million and $10 million. It projected at least $2 million in additional annual revenue and an internal rate of return of between 14% and 30%. Those figures are forecasts made before deployment, not observed results.

By 2028, the program aims to increase annual cash revenue in areas equipped with smart meters by CFA1.2 billion in real terms. Performance will be measured by comparing payments actually received from customers with smart meters against payments from the previous year, adjusted for inflation.

A $10 million allocation from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessional financing arm, is tied to this performance indicator. The amount is not the budget for purchasing the meters. Its disbursement depends on the targeted results being achieved and verified.

The tender notice also charges the contract to the 2026 public investment budget under a Ministry of Water and Energy budget line while referring to the IMPACT program’s IDA credit. The published documents do not show how much of the contract will be paid from each source.

As of June 30, 2026, the World Bank still classified the revenue indicator for areas equipped with smart meters as “off track.” No result had been recorded in 2025, procurement was still underway, and the first installations were not expected before October 2026.

The award to Laison therefore does not mean the meters have been delivered or installed. Camwater’s notice asks the company to report to its headquarters to complete the contractual process.

An earlier pilot in Bonabéri

Laison says it installed about 1,500 prepaid meters using LoRa technology in Bonabéri in 2021. According to a case study published by the supplier, the system was connected to GESCOM, Camwater’s commercial management software.

At the time, the Chinese company referred to a possible rollout of about 20,000 meters a year and potential demand for 600,000 units. Those figures came from Laison and were not presented as contractual commitments by Camwater.

A February 2021 publication citing an internal Camwater source placed the pilot in Bonabéri and Odza but referred both to 1,500 households and 3,000 meters. Available public sources provide no assessment of how those devices performed, how much revenue they generated or whether they improved collection rates. The new tender documents also do not say whether the meters ordered in August 2026 will supplement, replace or restart the earlier system.

The IMPACT program’s diagnosis relies mainly on 2022 data. Camwater recorded about CFA35 billion in revenue that year, while non-revenue water stood at nearly 40%. The World Bank estimated the associated revenue losses at CFA26 billion a year and put Camwater’s average collection rate at 63%, compared with a 95% sector benchmark cited in the program document.

Camwater’s latest published accounts also show a net loss after tax of CFA2.21 billion in 2024, down from CFA3.16 billion in 2023. The real test for the new contract will come after implementation: how many meters are installed and operational, whether they are properly connected to GESCOM and payment systems, and how much additional revenue Camwater actually collects. The August 17 contract award provides none of those results yet.

Baudouin Enama