Getting safe water in Kenya and Uganda is set to become easier and safer. This comes after Water.org announced plans to invest over Shs178million (US$2million) in WaterCredit programs in the next one year.
WaterCredit is the first program of its kind that puts microfinance tools to work in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector. By connecting financial institutions (FIs) to communities in developing countries in need of clean water and toilets, small loans are then made to individuals and households
The organization is also looking to expand the WaterCredit programs by working with a diverse set of financial institution partners and funders to attract additional capital to the WaterCredit ecosystem. So far, Equity Bank, Kenya Women Finance Trust, SMEP and Post Bank Uganda have developed water and sanitation products after successful market assessment and prototype development.
According to Dr. Thorsten, as of August this year, the organization had invested over Shs860 million (US$9.7million) in WaterCredit programs in Kenya, Uganda, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Peru, offering more than 370,000 loans, benefiting more than 1.6 million people. Also, four microfinance partners in Kenya had disbursed 15,716 WASH loans serving 101,352 people. In Uganda, two partners have disbursed 285 WASH loans serving 6,684 people. Water.org has invested USD $1.6 million in WaterCredit and leveraged USD $8 million in loan capital in East Africa.
“We are keen on identifying and prioritizing new markets and models for WaterCredit expansion; including new products and channels for deployment and directing “smart subsidies†to microfinance institutions to establish WaterCredit portfolios. Water.org now has seven microfinance (MFI) partners engaged in WaterCredit in Kenya and Uganda, and we expect to bring on board a few other MFIs in Ethiopia before the end of this year,†he said.
The organization in conjunction with MasterCard Foundation is planning a two-day conference in Nairobi later this month to discuss about lasting solutions to the lack of access to safe water and sanitation and creating access to financing needed to secure these necessities among those living in poverty throughout the region. The two-day WaterCredit forum dubbed Lend for Change will bring together leaders from the water, sanitation and finance sectors participants from Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia
One objective of the Forum is to identify and help remove barriers to lending for WaterCredit. Another is to offer both knowledge and toolkits to encourage other organizations to use WaterCredit as part of their efforts to bring safe water and sanitation services to those who need them.