Partnerships Officer to support the Challenge Fund - Aqua for All

1. Background

Aqua for All is an international foundation, committed to transforming the water and sanitation sector into a sustainable and inclusive economy. We leverage our funds through strategic granting and partnerships to accelerate the provision of access to water and sanitation to low-income households. By catalysing private capital for market development and increasing access to finance, we accelerate access to affordable, climate-resilient water and sanitation services globally, especially in Africa and Asia.

In 2022 Aqua for All launched a programme that aims to introduce a transformative revenue-based financing model to support Small-scale Water Service Providers (SSWSPs) in Kenya. The programme was designed as a Challenge Fund (CF) to enhance creditworthiness for small water infrastructure projects to expand and improve water services especially in peri urban and rural areas. The Fund features a “revenue-based loan financing” solution, to address the lack of collateral which has been a major hurdle in the water sector.

Through dedicated technical assistance, targeted capex grant incentives and harnessing the power of (fintech) technology, the challenge fund aims to assist 150 SSWSPs to raise KES 330 million (€ 2.7 million) in commercial finance, reaching 200,000 people with new or improved access. The overall aim of this initiative is to increase access to financing and support the growth of small-scale water service providers in Kenya.

The Challenge Fund has two key components: Technical Assistance and Blended finance and is implemented by a team of partners, each with their specific role and responsibilities, as shown below:

• Aqua for All as main grantor, coordination of project execution.
• Rural Focus is the in-country project lead, leading the creation of the enabling environment and pipeline development and transaction advisory services for small-scale water service providers.
• Smart People Africa leads in the development, introduction and deployment of FundMyWater e-platform.
• Sidian Bank and Family Bank as the financiers in the project, providing the loans to small scale water service providers. Additional financiers may be onboarded.
• Stone Family Foundation as an additional grantor, providing financial support for the development of robust pipeline of SSWSPs and communication & coordination for the programme.

2. Objective

This ambitious 3-year pilot project aims to revolutionize lending in Kenya’s water sector, and at the same time create visible and data driven impact by reaching people with improved or new access to water. It brings together a unique group of implementing partners and stakeholders, to collaborate and develop an innovative approach to enhance bankability of small-scale water service providers, which enables continuity and scale after the pilot. Partners collaborate from the implementation, policy, regulatory, technical, financial and fintech entry points, at the national, regional and local level in Kenya. This makes it essential that the pilot programme is well coordinated and applies a common language that excites and motivates people to contribute to or join the programme.

An experienced expert is required to develop this common language and assist in the internal and external communication products that should be part of the project to be implemented successfully. Collecting lessons learnt and sharing them in the different stakeholder groups is important to create interest for a larger scaling programme.
The consultant will contribute to the design of and implementation of a communication strategy and learning agenda to support the implementation of the Challenge Fund programme. The consultant will also be required to coordinate communication and reporting on project activities between the Challenge Fund partners.

3. Scope of work

Specifically, the consultant will:

• Develop a communication plan & strategy for the project to:
• Explore and define necessary communication channels related to communicating to sector and key stakeholders about the programme, as well as for sharing lessons.
• Detail expected project communication materials and costs.
• Lead the implementation of the key activities of the communication strategy in the pilot phase (til June 2025)
• Develop a learning agenda for the programme and lead implementation– with relation to the Monitoring Framework of the programme.
• Update project promotional leaflet and other communication materials
• Develop a uniform project presentation (PPT) – for partners to adapt and apply.
• Develop training curriculum for Financial Institutions branch staff to build their capacity to identify and onboard potential SSWSPs
• Coordinate with programme implementation partners and Financial Institutions to implement training curriculum
• Coordinate with programme implementation partners to sensitize targeted small scale service providers to apply for the Challenge Fund
• Touch base with key partners in the programme to align communication and learning (Aqua for All, Rural Focus, Smart People Africa and financial institutions)
• Plan and facilitate progress review meetings among Challenge Fund partners.
• Provide a monthly narrative report highlighting activities undertaken and planned.

4. Intensity of expected consultancy / timelines

The consultant is expected to provide the requested support for 6 months between January 2025 and June 2025. The total expected time investment of the proposed consultancy is approximately 100 working days distributed over 6 months.

5. Qualification Requirements

The consultant must have the following skills:

•  Minimum of 10 years’ experience in project management and developing and implementing communication and learning strategies for development programmes
• Deep understanding of the water sector in Kenya, preferably with community based or rural water service providers.
• Experience working with Financial Institutions is an advantage.
• Experience working with Fintech solutions is an advantage.
• Experience in working in the Africa region is essential.
• Consultant must be based in Kenya.
• Consultant must be a native speaker in English and Swahili.

6. Application

The consultant is required to provide a short proposal describing their understanding and approach, supported with a CV and a separate financial proposal – specifying deliverables and man-days. The financial proposal must be quoted in Kenyan Shillings.

Please send your proposal and CV by close of business on 20 December 2024 to Brian Kimemia, WASH Programme Manager East Africa: b.kimemia@aquaforall.org

More information on the Challenge Fund can be found here.