Enhancing customer convenience in Harare - Smart prepaid water metering in action

With the introduction of the Laison smart prepaid metering solution, the City of Harare is shifting toward a consumption-based, pay-as-you-go model, enabling greater transparency, improved revenue collection, and enhanced customer control.

Instead of postpaid billing cycles, water is purchased in advance. Real-time consumption monitoring allows both utilities and end-users to better understand usage patterns, supporting more efficient water management and demand control. As noted by local residents during the rollout, the prepaid model helps ensure fairness by aligning payment directly with consumption, while reducing disputes associated with estimated billing.

Digital payment integration driving customer convenience

A key success factor of the project lies in its flexible and accessible payment ecosystem, designed to accommodate diverse user preferences and local payment habits.

Laison’s solution supports two primary recharge channels:

Paynow: Lightweight, accessible recharge

The Paynow integration enables fast and inclusive access to water credit through:

• USSD short codes, compatible with all mobile phones
• WhatsApp-based transactions

This approach ensures that even users without smartphones or banking apps can conveniently purchase water credits. Recharge tokens are generated instantly and delivered in real time, enabling uninterrupted service.

Enabling Data-Driven and Customer-Centric Water Services

Beyond billing reform, the adoption of smart prepaid metering lays the foundation for a more data-driven utility model.

Key Benefits

• Improved revenue assurance through prepaid collection
• Reduced non-revenue water linked to unauthorized consumption
• Enhanced visibility into consumption patterns
• Greater customer empowerment through usage transparency

At the same time, the integration of digital payment channels strengthens customer engagement by making water services more accessible and user-friendly.

Toward a Smarter Water Future

The City of Harare’s smart prepaid metering project demonstrates how utilities can combine advanced metering infrastructure with localized digital payment solutions to improve both operational efficiency and customer experience.

By aligning technology deployment with user behavior, the project is not only modernizing water management but also redefining how residents interact with essential services.

As utilities across emerging markets accelerate digital transformation, Harare’s approach provides a practical reference for delivering scalable, customer-centric, and financially sustainable water services.

Scalable deployment supporting urban water transformation

The Harare smart metering initiative is being implemented in phases as part of a broader infrastructure upgrade programme.

Over 30,000 smart prepaid meters have already been deployed across key suburbs, including Belvedere, Westlea, Mabelreign, and Warren Park. The rollout is continuing, with plans to scale to 200,000 units in 2026. 

Parallel investments in water infrastructure, including pipeline rehabilitation and water treatment capacity, are also underway.

This phased deployment model enables the utility to progressively digitise its network while maintaining operational stability.