The Accelerated and Integrated Loss Reduction Program (PAIRP), implemented by the company Águas da Região Metropolitana de Maputo (AdRMM) between 2019 and 2024, has resulted in the reduction of unbilled water by more than 11%, i.e. from 56% in 2019 to the current 45%, suspended customers have been reduced from 55,000 to 35,000, and it is expected that more suspended customers will be reactivated by the end of the year, up to 32,900.

The program was designed for a five-year horizon, with a strategic vision of the business that aims to reduce unbilled water to 33%, double the customer portfolio to 400,000 and also double annual revenues.

Regarding these results, "although there are still constraints associated with funding for full compliance with the program, the mid-term evaluation is very positive, since satisfactory progress can be seen in relation to the planned targets," said the director of PAIRP, Joaquim Samuel Bie.

Despite the improvement recorded over the last three years, collections are still the company's biggest focus and main challenge, as it has not yet achieved satisfactory results judging by the current rate of 75%:

"This indicator is greatly influenced by the fact that it depends a lot on the customer's willingness to pay the bill, given that the service is post-paid. This situation is aggravated by the high rates of water theft, i.e. illegal consumption, which leads to the water supply being suspended or cut off," he said.

These practices, he stressed, have a negative impact on the company's sustainability and, in turn, limit the ability to expand the service to other areas not covered.
In the meantime, various actions are underway to improve collections, including awareness and persuasion campaigns for debtor customers, promotion of electronic payment platforms, capitalizing on partnerships with communities, through memoranda signed with the municipal authorities of Maputo and Matola,

For the director of PAIRP, the program has brought greater engagement and motivation to the company's workforce, through the implementation of initiatives associated with institutional transformation, such as the capitalization of performance bonuses, improving the technical capacity of staff, improving follow-up and monitoring of technical and commercial operations, which has made technical interventions more flexible and more efficient.

In a recent appraisal of the actions taken to achieve the program's objectives, Portuguese engineer, professor and public manager Joaquim Poças Martins also gave a positive assessment of PAIRP's progress, highlighting the improvement in billing and the reduction in losses by 11%.

The Portuguese professor and public manager also recommended that the company continue along the same path: "the company should mobilize a team to monitor activities on a daily basis," he concluded.