On Wednesday, October 11, 2023, the board and management of the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) appeared before the Public Enterprise Committee (PEC) of the National Assembly to deliver their activity and financial reports for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.

During the presentation, Nani Juwara, the Managing Director of NAWEC, addressed the committee and said that the company’s continuous transmission and distribution issues have remained a serious concern.

“The network is really old, and we are making efforts but in 2020 not much effort has been made for the fact that we were hoping that some of these project would have kicked in 2020, but unfortunately the contracts of those projects were not signed at the time,” he went on to say.According to Mr. Jawara, the bulk of NAWEC’s operations in 2020 will be paid by the company’s own budget. He said that the network has been restored by replacing certain contractors and installing new transformers in regions suffering low voltage owing to increasing demand. He said that these approaches have aided in the reduction of technical losses.
“As part of our law enforcement efforts, we have also formed a team charged with going after people who tamper with our electricity or water meters, as well as those who make illegal connections; this activity is ongoing as we speak.”

“In 2020, NAWEC continues to face numerous challenges in meeting our customers’ water supply demands.” Since 2020, it has not altered considerably. “I believe the situation is still the same today, if not worse, as a result of the level of urbanization that we are all experiencing,” he told the committee.

He claims that the Greater Banjul Area’s high population increase is creating severe delays in water supply service delivery.

“The main supply in 2020 was the signing and implementation of the India line of credit, a $22.5 million project.” “This project resulted in the drilling of new boreholes, which are now operational, and the project has been commissioned,” he stated.

In terms of governance, he told the committee that the NAWEC board successfully adopted the new organizational structure for NAWEC in 2021, with 2020 being a critical year in NAWEC’s transformation plan. He said that the board of directors approved an improved structure for NAWEC, allowing them to hire new group directors. This organization has been evolving continuously, notably after 2020, when it comprised of around nine directorates.

“It has not been easy, but the management has put a lot of effort to make sure we meet the minimum expectations, because 24 hours was really a bit of challenge for us to provide 24 hours electricity supply but relatively most places were enjoying good supplies from 2020 and in terms of providing access to the people of Kiang were also very happy in 2020 for the first time they had access to electricity through the support we get from Indian line credit,” he went on to say.