Development of toolkits that enable financial institutions to lend for the water and sanitation needs of their clients in Asia, Africa, and Latin America

• Aug 8, 2025
• 1 min

Access to finance for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and small enterprises remains limited across many developing regions. This is due to a lack of tailored financial products, market insights, and delivery tools. This financing gap restricts underserved households and communities from accessing sustainable WASH solutions. It also undermines efforts to improve health and economic resilience. 

To address this, Water.org engaged MSC to scale its innovative WaterCredit concept and develop five practical toolkits to help banks, MFIs, and NGOs build strong WASH finance portfolios. The toolkits covered opportunity mapping, product development, marketing, delivery, and portfolio management. Water.org partners across Asia, Africa, and Latin America have widely adopted these toolkits. 

MSC provided technical assistance to help partners identify market opportunities, design relevant financial products, establish delivery systems, and manage WASH loan portfolios effectively. 

To date, WaterCredit has enabled more than 12 million families in 12 countries to access water and sanitation solutions. More than 10 financial institutions in Africa have implemented products aligned to WaterCredit. More than 150 bank managers in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania have been trained to use this toolkit. By 2017, WaterCredit had generated USD 1.5 billion in commercial financing for the WASH sector. This demonstrates the power of well-designed financial solutions to drive scale and impact. 

Water.org commissioned this project.