Water Supply and Sanitation
AMFIU – Water Supply and Sanitation
and Advocacy
AMFIU entered into a partnership with an American NGO Water.Org to support AMFIU members in developing a Water Credit loan facility. 28 Members of AMFIU expressed interest to be part of the project. The Water Credit facility addresses the social performance impact of the institutions towards the client.
While some Financial Institutions offer consumption and education products, some do not lend extensively for home improvement, and do not offer customized Water Supply and Sanitation finance products. The majority of Financial Institutions prioritize business lending for income generating purposes. The concept of microfinance for water and sanitation is completely new in many areas. Thus there is still a huge unmet demand especially for water and sanitation needs. Clients are forced to take business loans and later divert them in meeting their WSS needs, which may not be in both the Financial Institutions and borrower interest. The introduction of a Water supply and Sanitation loan product will add into the institutions profits and also address the social impact of the institution to their clients.
A base line report on the actual status and demand for change in line with water and sanitation was conducted and revealed that a majority 77% of respondents who were also clients of MFIs would appreciate a change in the current state of water and sanitation.