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.
Access to financing for Kenya’s WASH and SME sectors remains limited due to the absence of targeted financial solutions and market intelligence. Family Bank sought to explore these opportunities but lacked the strategic insights to establish a dedicated unit.
MSC conducted a comprehensive market assessment across Nairobi, Kisumu, and Embu to identify financing gaps, assess consumer behavior, and benchmark competition in the WASH finance space. We applied behavioral research methods and business analytics to design a strategic framework for market entry. The project team segmented customers, assessed market demand for WASH and SME financial products, and proposed viable financial products and delivery mechanisms to support the bank’s expansion into this segment.
This engagement strengthened the bank’s strategic positioning to serve underserved WASH and SME markets with tailored financial solutions. These products would ultimately support the bank’s broader financial inclusion agenda.
The Family Bank of Kenya commissioned this project.
Ghana’s sanitation entrepreneurs faced significant barriers to growth due to limited business and financial literacy, which hindered their ability to scale sustainable WASH services.
MSC supported the rollout of the “AhoteƐ” WASH loan product. It designed and implemented a training of trainers (ToT) program for WASH SME trainers. The assignment sought to equip trainers with the tools, knowledge, and mindset to deliver practical business management and financial literacy training to sanitation entrepreneurs countrywide. MSC developed a WASH SME training manual, an operator learning diary, and ready-to-use business tools. The ToT sessions were conducted in Accra and Kumasi and were followed by pilot training sessions delivered to actual SME clients.
This engagement enhanced the capacity of 45 branch trainers and equipped Sinapi Aba Trust with large-scale training resources, which are expected to benefit more than 1,000 sanitation entrepreneurs.
Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans commissioned this project.
For years, low-income women in Kenya have struggled to access financial services for improved water and sanitation. Therefore, the Kenya Women Microfinance Bank (KWFT) needed to refine its WASH offerings to serve this segment better.
MSC aligned WASH finance offerings with the needs of low-income women and underserved communities. Our team conducted customer segmentation through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews across four regions—Central Nyanza, Western, Lower Eastern, and Mt. Kenya North. We also mapped the WASH ecosystem and assessed potential partnerships with suppliers, utility providers, and vendors. Based on these insights, we proposed refinements to existing products and developed new product concepts tailored to sanitation and water access. A pilot testing plan and marketing strategy were developed to guide implementation and strengthen market positioning.
This engagement enhanced the institution’s ability to deliver relevant and impactful financial solutions to vulnerable populations in the water and sanitation space.
The KWFT commissioned this project.
Rural households in Tajikistan lacked access to safe drinking water due to limited infrastructure and the absence of financing options tailored to household needs. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) were also unprepared to offer water-specific loan products.
MSC designed microcredit solutions to improve households’ access to safe drinking water in rural and peri-urban areas. We helped MFIs develop water-specific credit products that respond to households’ needs and create willingness among households to invest in household water connections. We conducted a comprehensive financial landscape assessment to identify potential MFI partners and evaluate their readiness for product rollout. A demand-side assessment in five target districts complemented the landscape assessment to capture rural households’ preferences and financial behavior regarding water services.
We then codeveloped three customized microloan products and prepared a detailed capacity development and deployment plan for the selected MFI. We also conducted a stakeholder workshop to validate the findings and cocreate financing strategies. The workshop involved governments, donors, MFIs, and local communities.
The initiative laid the groundwork for the rollout of water microcredit products to improve or expand 12 rural drinking water systems. The products benefited 35,000+ people, schools, and health facilities.
The USAID commissioned this project.
Rwanda’s WASH financing ecosystem had critical gaps, which included the limited participation of financial institutions and low capacity of WASH entrepreneurs. The “Expanding access to commercial financing for the WASH sector,” implemented under the USAID-funded “Isoko y’Ubuzima” program, addresses these critical gaps. The initiative supports the Government of Rwanda’s ambition to achieve universal WASH coverage by 2024 and meet SDG 6 by 2030.
The project addresses critical gaps in the WASH financing ecosystem, particularly the limited participation of financial institutions and low capacity of WASH entrepreneurs.
MSC conducted a nationwide WASH financial landscape study to identify gaps, opportunities, and financial needs across the sector. We also cocreated two digitized loan products to meet the specific needs of households and WASH businesses and piloted these products with a partner financial institution. To ensure long-term adoption, MSC built the capacity of 30 staff from financial institutions and 40 from WASH businesses in financial modeling, marketing, and business planning. We facilitated stakeholder engagement for regulatory alignment and future scale-up of WASH lending. Our engagement included the Development Bank of Rwanda, WASAC, and MINIFRA, Central Bank of Rwanda.
This initiative unlocked commercial capital for WASH, created a blueprint for sustainable financing models, and catalyzed scalable solutions for water, sanitation, and hygiene access in Rwanda.
Water For People and UNICEF commissioned the project.