After graduating with a geology degree, Zulfa Mussá, 38, decided to return to her community in Maciane, Mozambique and use her expertise to provide a service her neighbors needed – a consistent and clean water supply connected directly to their homes.
“My community was very happy, because no one here had piped water systems,” says Zulfa.
Without access to water in their homes, Zulfa’s neighbors spent hours collecting water, oftentimes from sources with unreliable sanitary conditions.
And who did most of this work? Women.
As a geologist, Zulfa could easily manage the technical hurdles such as drilling boreholes, building pipelines, and setting up solar panels. But building a sustainable business required some technical and financial skills new to her.
Thanks to USAID’s SPEED+ program, Zulfa gained these skills. She was able to obtain a formal business license and comply with government requirements surrounding licensing, setting tariffs, and maintaining sanitary conditions as she developed and grew her business.
USAID works with the Mozambique Private Water Suppliers Association to develop training courses for members like Zulfa. The training covers strategies for financing water system upgrades and expansions, and using financial management software for automated billing, receipts, tracking of payments and expenses, and cost controls.
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