Most of the increase in world demand for water in the coming half-century will be in Africa. Notwithstanding this important trend, financing for development has continued to be a nagging problem for Africa, most especially in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector. This has created a cycle of donor dependency. But, there is a need for a paradigm shift from donor dependency if there is to be a sustained improvement in Africa’s WASH sector. The WASH sector in Africa is currently lacking the long-term financial resources for innovation and entrepreneurship that are required for creating a revolution in terms of prevailing WASH service standards, access, equality and desired movement up the sanitation ladder. The Africa WASH Fund, established by the pan-African intergovernmental body Water and Sanitation for Africa (WSA), is an investment vehicle feeder fund that is looking to change that scenario. It is a full package fund incorporating capacity building and IT for beneficiaries (public and private) on issues of financial management, planning, reporting, etc.
It will basically work to ignite both ends of the market – creating demand for WASH services and catalyzing innovative mechanisms across the supply chain. Waterfund is partnering with the WSA to provide risk management, advisory and marketing services to the WASH Fund. As part of this partnership, participation on the WCI will be mandatory for all utilities applying to the WASH Fund for financing of their various water-related projects. For contributors to the fund the WCI provides a mechanism through which the investment risk in water projects can be measured and ultimately transferred through the suite of insurance products that the index can enable. For utilities applying for funding the WCI provides a benchmark mechanism through which they can measure their own cost performance and compare with that of other similar utilities on a like-for-like basis. For more information about the WASH Fund initiative please visit http://www.wsafrica.org/en/what-we-do/africa-wash-fund#sthash.mDHo9Z46.dpuf