The verdict in three sentences
An operator running 85 boreholes and 22,000 customers with manual meter readings and paper bills often stalls at 68 % collection and loses nearly 30 % of produced water without billing it. A custom utility management platform costs 15,000,000 to 35,000,000 FCFA (about 22,900 to 53,400 EUR) in 2026, excluding hardware: customer management, prepaid meters, top-up via Wave and Orange Money, borehole telemetry, leak alerts and reporting to the contracting authority. Realistic three-year targets are 95 % collection and non-revenue water down to 15 %.
Modules and their 2026 budget
The software is the backbone of the service: it connects the meter, the customer's payment, the technician and the contractual report. Each module is priced separately, which allows a phased rollout.
| Module | Function | Indicative 2026 budget (FCFA) | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customers and contracts | 22,000 records, connections, public standpipes, social and domestic tariffs | 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 | 4 to 6 weeks |
| Prepaid meters | Manufacturer API integration, token generation, cards or codes, credit management | 3,500,000 to 8,000,000 | 6 to 10 weeks |
| Mobile top-up | Wave, Orange Money, Free Money, SMS receipt, automatic reconciliation | 1,500,000 to 3,500,000 | 3 to 5 weeks |
| Borehole telemetry | Flow, water table level, solar or grid power, leak and pump failure alerts | 3,000,000 to 7,500,000 | 6 to 10 weeks |
| Postpaid billing and collection | Customers still on standard meters, SMS reminders, scheduled disconnections | 1,500,000 to 3,500,000 | 3 to 5 weeks |
| Contracting authority dashboard | Contract KPIs, volumes, network efficiency, monthly exports | 1,500,000 to 3,500,000 | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Technician app | Work orders, photos, readings, offline operation | 2,000,000 to 5,000,000 | 4 to 6 weeks |
Hardware is separate: a prepaid meter costs roughly 70,000 to 120,000 FCFA installed, a borehole telemetry sensor 400,000 to 900,000 FCFA. Mobile payment fees run around 1 % per transaction and hosting 75,000 to 150,000 FCFA per month at this volume.
Before and after: the indicators that matter
The contracting authority judges the operator on a handful of figures. Software that produces them automatically, month after month, also changes the quality of the contractual dialogue.
| Indicator | Manual management | 3-year target with software |
|---|---|---|
| Collection rate | 68 % | 95 % |
| Non-revenue water | 30 % | 15 % |
| Time to detect a major leak | 5 to 10 days | under 24 h |
| Time to restore service after pump failure | 3 to 5 days | 24 to 48 h |
| Meter reading and bill delivery cost | 250 to 400 FCFA per customer per month | near zero for prepaid |
| Monthly report to the authority | 5 to 8 days of consolidation | generated in 1 hour |
| Billing complaints | 4 to 6 % of customers per year | under 1 % |
These are 2026 estimates, to be adjusted to your actual data during scoping.
What to lock into the specifications
- Vendor independence: require software able to drive at least two prepaid meter brands, otherwise every hardware renewal becomes a forced negotiation.
- Social tariff: the social bracket and standpipe prices must stay configurable, since tariff grids change with amendments to the delegation contract.
- Connectivity: many boreholes in the groundnut basin only have 2G coverage. Telemetry must work over SMS or in deferred mode.
- Data ownership: at the end of the delegation, customer data and production history return to the contracting authority. Plan for a complete, documented export.
- Compliance: customer data falls under Senegal's Law 2008-12 and must be declared to the CDP.
Mini case study
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Mr Faye, operations director of an operator based in Kaolack, bills about 4,000 FCFA per customer per month, or 1,056,000,000 FCFA a year for 22,000 customers. He targets 85 % collection in year one instead of 68 %: +179,520,000 FCFA collected (about 273,700 EUR). The software is priced at 24,000,000 FCFA. The big line item is hardware: 4,000 prepaid meters for the largest consumers at 85,000 FCFA, or 340,000,000 FCFA, often co-financed by the contracting authority or a donor. On a total investment of 364,000,000 FCFA, payback comes in just over two years, before even counting the drop in non-revenue water.
FAQ
Do all customers need prepaid meters?
No, most operators start with the 15 to 25 % of customers who weigh most in unpaid bills, plus the standpipes. The software runs standard postpaid meters in parallel.
Can customers top up without a smartphone?
Yes, top-up goes through the Wave or Orange Money USSD menu, and the credit code arrives by SMS. The target delay between payment and credit is under 2 minutes.
How long does the rollout take?
Allow 4 to 6 months for the full software, then 6 to 18 months for gradual meter installation. A pilot on 3 to 5 boreholes over 8 weeks validates the settings.
What happens if the mobile network goes down?
Prepaid meters keep delivering credit already loaded. Telemetry stores readings and resends them when the connection returns, with an alert if a borehole stays silent for more than 12 hours.
Can the contracting authority access the data?
Yes, through a read-only dashboard with the contract KPIs: produced and billed volumes, network efficiency, collection rate. This access usually costs 1,500,000 to 3,500,000 FCFA to build.
Let's scope your project. Share your number of boreholes, customers and current meter fleet: we will price the software, from 15,000,000 to 35,000,000 FCFA, plus a pilot on a few boreholes. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.