Unlock access to finance for small-scale water service providers in Kenya - Aqua for All

Upande is developing digital platforms to track assets including facilities, businesses, farms, utilities and key infrastructure. This gives water service providers the power to manage their assets on a prepaid basis, bringing them positive cash flow, saving time and money on revenue collection and avoiding disconnection/reconnection efforts. The modular platforms are powered by IoT (Internet of Things), GIS (Geographic Information Systems), ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and machine learning.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Water service providers (WSP’s) are not able to pay the monthly subscriptions on time or at all, leading to the situation that Upande cannot meet the operational costs. At the same time, the financial difficulties induced by the Covid-19 pandemic have increased WSP’s interest in commercial loans. In earlier discussions, Family Bank and Sidian Bank showed interest in a tool developed by Upande, WASHmis, which would support them in deciding positively on providing a loan to WSPs. With support from Aqua for All’s Response Facility, Upande is now updating the WASHmis tool, allowing WSP’s to report in such a way that they meet the reporting (loan) requirements of the financial institutions.