At December 2025, 40 Ugandan government ministries, departments and agencies owed National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) about UGX 69.94 billion in unpaid water bills. In February 2026, Parliament's environment committee told the Budget Committee that these arrears had curtailed NWSC's ability to raise finance, and NWSC had not secured a planned UGX 600 billion of borrowing from domestic banks.
A debt that ages
NWSC's 10th Corporate Plan put signed-off government arrears at UGX 72 billion in June 2023, up from UGX 15.5 billion in June 2018, with a debt age of 12 months. Across all NWSC customers, debt age was 4.0 months in FY 2023/24 and collection efficiency was 95%.
A healthy utility with a slow customer
The arrears sit against an otherwise sound financial position. NWSC's turnover was UGX 622 billion in FY 2023/24, EBITDA was UGX 142 billion, and loans outstanding at 30 June 2024 were UGX 157 billion, below cash of UGX 274.6 billion.
What it means for the pipeline
The planned bank loans were meant for town water schemes. In April 2026, NWSC listed its internally funded schemes at Tororo and Moroto as on hold pending confirmation of funding. NWSC's board has since approved the concept for a UGX 650 billion, 50-town programme to be funded mainly by a proposed UGX 500 billion concessional government loan, which was still awaiting Government approval in August 2026.
Which suppliers are most exposed, how NWSC buys under Uganda's procurement law, and which donor-financed packages are moving ahead regardless are covered in the full brief. The full report, National Water and Sewerage Corporation: Utility Account Brief, is available for USD 499. For a free overview, read the National Water and Sewerage Corporation Utility Snapshot.