Impact-Linked Fund for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (ILF for WASH)
The Impact-Linked Fund for Water Sanitation and Hygiene (ILF for WASH) is an innovative finance programme. It offers a suite of Impact-Linked Finance (results-based) solutions to water and sanitation enterprises in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East looking to scale and increase their impact.
ILF for WASH provides acceleration support and catalytic financing that contribute to mobilising private investments and scaling water and sanitation enterprises sustainably. This will ultimately contribute to achieving SDG 6, universal access to clean water and sanitation.
Financed by Aqua for All, ILF for WASH is developed and implemented in partnership with Roots of Impact. The programme builds on the learnings and promising results piloted by the SIINC for WASH programme, launched in mid-2020. SIINC for WASH is also financed by Aqua for All and co-designed and implemented in partnership with Roots of Impact.
Impact-Linked Finance solutions for WASH
Our Impact-Linked Finance solutions are designed to offer “better terms for better impact”. This means that both the instruments’ conditions and results’ metrics respond to the needs and situation of the impact enterprise. The enterprise gets equipped to grow and expand to undeserved communities, attract investments, and create impact at scale.
ILF for WASH provides funding and support through these Impact-Linked Finance instruments:
- Social Impact Incentives (SIINC)
- Impact-Linked Loans are uncollateralised SME loans whose interest rate and principal repayment can be reduced depending on the borrower’s impact achieved.
- Technical assistance uses a two-prong approach to address the variety of the impact-related challenges faced by water and sanitation enterprises. Firstly, Impact-Linked Finance Readiness Bootcamp providing targeted support to improve enterprises’ impact measurement and management (IMM) systems. Secondly, the Train-the-Trainer programme will strengthen the capacity of service providers to deliver Foundational Support, such as basic training on IMM to enterprises.
Bidhaa Sasa was chosen as one of the enterprises to receive an Impact-Linked Loan (ILL). The enterprise’s impact goal is to make life-improving products accessible to low-income rural customers – whether by gaining access to clean water (water tanks) or less exposure to dangerous cooking fuels (cookstoves). Learn more about Bidhaa Sasa here.
Quotes from participants:
- “Without access to water, you can’t even begin to think about your health—it’s the most fundamental need. Make water available first; only then can everything else begins to grow”.
- “Having access to safe sanitation can enable greater economic participation and job creation—and that becomes a key element of empowerment for women”.
- “In terms of safety, one major aspect is that women often face gender-based violence when traveling far from home to fetch water—so having water access closer to home significantly enhances their safety. That, I’d say, is a key consideration”.
- “We truly value the power of data before and after the intervention, because it not only provides key information about socio-economic and health indicators but also assists us in applying business principles to non-commercially viable contexts. This supports the overall sustainability of rural water interventions.”
As the programme evolves, additional solutions will be integrated into this suite, expanding its capacity to drive impactful outcomes in the WASH sector.
Who can participate in ILF for WASH?
Eligible water and sanitation enterprises must meet these conditions:
- Being based and/or active in Asia, Africa and/or the Middle East;
- Being operational for at least three years;
- Having a well-defined business model and strong revenue model, regardless of the legal form;
- Having reached – or having short-term plans for – financial sustainability (break-even point and profitability projections);
- Being impact-driven (priority areas: low-income populations, gender, and climate).
- Meeting the extra requirements of each specific Impact-Linked Finance solutions offered by ILF for WASH.
Not sure ILF is the right fit for your enterprise? – Try our ILF matching tool to evaluate how well an ILF transaction aligns with your business needs:
Do you have questions or are you interested in participating In ILF for WASH? Please contact us at ILF@aquaforall.org