The encyclopedia · Engineering & Operations · Operational decision · 2016–2021
Gambia's NAWEC cut power losses from 25% to 19% with imports and prepaid meters
A World Bank project gave bankrupt Gambian utility NAWEC Senegal imports, 23,000 prepaid meters and restructuring help; losses fell 25% to 19%.
National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC)
The solution
By 2016 The Gambia's national utility NAWEC had suffered three consecutive years of losses, with liabilities about four times its annual revenue and a grid leaking roughly a quarter of its power. The country faced an acute energy crisis, and the utility could not finance the repair of its own network.
The World Bank's Gambia Electricity Support Project (approved May 2016) took a two-sided approach: after a 2017 restructuring it financed cross-border lines so electricity could be imported from Senegal quickly, and it invested in the distribution system and in NAWEC's operations — replacing faulty meters with 23,000 prepayment meters and 300 smart meters for large customers, plus technical assistance for financial restructuring.
The results were delivered within five years: technical and commercial losses fell from 25% in 2016 to 19% in 2019, surpassing the 22% target, and the project generated 314 GWh against a revised target of 317 GWh. The financial rate of return at closing was 26% with an NPV of US$9.2 million, and the ICR rated the outcome Satisfactory with Bank performance Highly Satisfactory.
Why it worked
- Imports bridged the supply gap in months, not the years a new plant would take.
- Prepayment meters turned unmetered losses into collected revenue.
- Restructuring advice addressed the utility's balance sheet, not just its wires.
- Measurable loss and reliability indicators kept the operation accountable.
What can be applied
A utility leaking a quarter of its power cannot be saved by generation alone: buy the fastest available supply and make losses visible and prepaid, so recovered revenue funds the turnaround.
Aftermath
The project closed in May 2021 and was followed by the Electricity Restoration and Modernization Project, which continued the same recipe with about 20,000 automated meter-reading units, a prepaid-meter pilot and a meter workshop at NAWEC. The 2025 Gambia Compact still cites power losses around 21% against an 18% regulatory cap, a reminder that metering wins need to be defended with continued investment.
Sources
- Gambia Electricity Support Project (P152659) - Implementation Completion and Results Report
- Independent Evaluation Group - Implementation Completion Report (ICR) Review: Gambia Electricity Support Project
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