By Guest Writer
National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) Managing Director Dr Eng Silver Mugisha has asked Danish pump maker Grundfos to partner with National Enterprise Corporation (NEC) to manufacture pumps and spare parts in Uganda, while seeking cheaper financing from the World Bank and Gates Foundation support for the utility’s research and sanitation work.
Dr Mugisha made the appeals in separate meetings on the sidelines of the International Water Association (IWA) World Water Congress and Exhibition in Glasgow.
He told Grundfos executives that NWSC imports spare parts for most of its pumps and that local production would end long waits for parts shipped from abroad.
“For sustainability, if I work with you, I should be able to get your parts locally and not endure long waits to get parts from abroad,” Dr Mugisha said. “With NEC producing these spares, we can have a network supplying Africa.”
He said NEC has the capacity to produce the parts, and that other African utilities, not only those in Uganda, could buy from the Ugandan supply line.
Dr Mugisha asked Grundfos to set up an in-house manufacturing plant with NEC to assemble pump parts locally, to study NWSC’s hydraulic systems and design energy-efficient pumps for the utility and the East African market, and to work with NWSC on technology such as prepaid meters for the Ugandan market.
He said NWSC was moving towards competence-based training and wanted to draw on Grundfos’s experience in electromechanical engineering to build the capacity of Ugandan engineers. He also asked the company to support the African Water and Sanitation Academy, run under the African Water and Sanitation Association (AfWASA) to promote innovation, learning and capacity building among practitioners on the continent.
Grundfos officials said the company had previously worked with utilities, the IWA and AfWASA on learning initiatives and pledged to look into the request. They outlined a financing model under which the company would recover its investment from savings generated by more efficient pumps, and said the company could develop intelligent pumps and systems that detect faults automatically.
The company pledged to work with NWSC to reduce energy use, costs and non-revenue water.
Dr Rose Kaggwa, NWSC Senior Director Business and Scientific Services, asked Grundfos to become principal sponsor of the IWA Water and Development Congress and Exhibition, planned for Uganda in November 2027.
NWSC Board Chairman Prof Eng Dr Henry Alinaitwe pledged, on behalf of the board, to support management in delivering the initiatives.
In a separate meeting with the World Bank, Dr Mugisha presented NWSC’s performance, including audited financial reports, which he said demonstrated the utility’s creditworthiness.
He said NWSC was seeking long-term, low-cost financing, working with local banks and the Ministry of Finance, and that funds should go to infrastructure expansion, operating efficiency, energy efficiency, sanitation promotion and reducing non-revenue water.
“The cost of financing is high, and the Government of Uganda is looking at low-cost financing and is doing away with expensive financing,” Dr Mugisha said.
He said any World Bank funding for water and sanitation infrastructure in Uganda should be flexible enough to let NWSC carry out its own engineering designs, implement community-based models and source affordable contractors to save costs.
“We want to give people more water, reduce water-borne diseases, reduce the distance for fetching water and reduce the cost of access to clean, safe water,” he said, adding that the agenda was in line with the government’s plan for socio-economic transformation.
Dr Mugisha said the government was also sourcing funds locally, including through bonds and financing from the National Social Security Fund, to invest in local projects.
World Bank officials described NWSC as a well-performing utility and said the bank would assess risk and could support the corporation if it was able to implement projects on its own. They said the bank works with local banks in Africa and would consider working through Ugandan lenders.
The officials said the bank funds government utilities through bonds and grants for projects addressing climate change and building water and sanitation infrastructure, and that it would carry out due diligence on Uganda as a next step.
NWSC Deputy Managing Director Finance and Corporate Strategy Francis Owot said the utility had the capacity to manage the funds alongside the Ministry of Finance and other stakeholders. Owot urged the World Bank to channel financing through local banks to reduce costs and to use its due diligence to find the right financing mix for Uganda.
At the Gates Foundation, Dr Mugisha asked for support for NWSC’s research and development agenda, its sanitation initiatives, the 50 Towns Water Supply Improvement Project and preparations for the 2027 IWA congress.
He said NWSC now has a strong research and development department and asked the foundation to back it as an incubator for addressing water and sanitation challenges on the continent, including the utility’s work on sludge management at its facilities.
Dr Mugisha said demand for water was outstripping supply in some of the towns. The 50 Towns project aims to build resilience in towns where NWSC operates.
He urged the foundation to support efforts to improve water supply and on-site sanitation in those towns.
He also asked the foundation to support the African Water and Sanitation Academy, which he said Uganda hosts and which he said had the potential to address water and sanitation challenges across Africa.
Prof Eng Dr Alinaitwe pledged the board’s support for the utility’s plans and said backing research and development at NWSC would also benefit water and sanitation engineering students at universities by building collaboration between the utility and academia.
Gates Foundation officials pledged to support Uganda’s preparations for the IWA Water and Development Congress. They said the foundation wants to make an impact in Africa and sees utilities such as NWSC as a good vehicle for doing so, and described NWSC as a pace setter in water and sanitation on the continent. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
