Kenya Microfinance for Community-Managed Water Project

In 2006, the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA) approved an innovative pilot project for $1.15 million to increase access and improve efficiency in water services for the poor in rural and peri-urban areas of central Kenya through investments in selected community subprojects. By February 2013, an additional 190,000 people had obtained access to improved piped-water supply in low-income communities in rural and peri-urban areas of Kenya as a result of the project. It also enabled access to commercial loans and mobilized community investment. The project supported 35 community water projects to access $3.4 million in loans from K-Rep Bank and mobilized $1.2 million in equity from communities for investment. The project generated demand for commercial loans to finance investments in small piped-water systems in Kenya. The World Bank and GPOBA are scaling up the pilot with funding from the Swedish development agency, Sida, to test the model in urban areas.

This Lessons Learned discusses project insights gathered at the end of this project.