The Government of Kenya has set an ambitious target of universal access to water, sanitation, and hygiene services (WASH) by 2030. To achieve this, $12.9 billion in WASH investments are needed to expand and improve WASH services. However, the current government budget for water and sanitation is $5.6 billion, leaving a $7 billion gap. To bridge this gap, the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Finance (WASH-FIN) program helps explore new sources of market finance to complement funding from traditional sources such as transfers, taxes, and tariffs. WASH-FIN works with Water Service Providers (WSPs) and private sanitation service providers to access capital for sustainable, climate resilient water and sanitation infrastructure. WASH-FIN achieves this by partnering with national and county governments, development partners, local financial institutions, and other stakeholders.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, WASH-FIN has worked with development partners and other financiers to leverage the financing required by WSPs for COVID-19 recovery support. This enables WSPs to maintain minimum levels of service and liquidity and, over time, to regain their pre-COVID-19 creditworthiness status and continue to enhance internal WSP processes for efficient revenue collection and management. To raise the profile and transformative role of WASH financing, the program will leverage its years of partnership with the Water Sector Trust Fund and other sector institutions to facilitate dialogue towards development of a comprehensive WASH sector financing strategy.
