WASH News Finance
This blog contains news related to the financing of water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in developing countries, collected by Cor Dietvorst, the editor of Source Weekly published by IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.
Ability to pay: the challenge of piped water and sanitation in rural Indonesia
29 Jan 09
Like many villages in Madiun District, East Java Province, Geger [...] for years lacked piped water or adequate sanitation facilities.While the water problem was partly addressed by installing wells, the issue of adequate sanitation remained a concern. A stream that snakes through the village served as a natural latrine, with the downstream current relied on [...]
Microfinance: corrupt institutions profit from poorest in Benin
29 Jan 09
Local NGOs subcontracted by a multi-million-dollar microfinance programme are taking bribes from borrowers, according to the fund’s directors.Aboubacar Aboudou, the first director of the government-run “microloans to the poorest” programme, told IRIN a lack of oversight and the programme’s rapid growth since its creation in February 2007 has left it open to “unscrupulous intermediaries” hired [...]
Latin America: Pension funds a good alternative to finance infrastructure, water projects
27 Jan 09
Pension funds provide a good alternative to financing infrastructure development projects while strengthening local economies, K&M Engineering CEO Michael Kappaz said at the second CG/LA Global Infrastructure Leadership Forum. [The Forum was held in Washington, DC from December 10-12, 2009].Kappaz mentioned Chile and Colombia as examples of mature economies with strong pension fund models that [...]
WaterAid: recession has “hugely” reduced purchasing power of its funds, says Chief Executive
25 Jan 09
The 2008 Financial Times Seasonal Appeal has helped raise £144,000 in the UK for the charity WaterAid. From November 2008 to mid-January 2009, FT published a series of a field stories on WaterAid projects in Bangladesh, Nepal, Mali and Ghana.In her letter of thanks, WaterAid’s chief executive Barbara Frost also briefly reflected on the impact [...]
India, Kerala: Selling drinking water is not Govt policy, says Minister
12 Jan 09
Water Resources Minister N.K. Premachandran [of the Indian state of Kerala], said that selling drinking water was not the policy of the Government.Inaugurating a revenue adalat [law court] organised by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) [...] he said that the money collected from the water consumers was just [for] the cost of electricity, water treatment [...]
India, West Bengal: can decentralisation improve rural water supply services?
12 Jan 09
A survey of households in six villages in Birbhum district of West Bengal provides evidence that decentralisation in delivery of water supply leads to better quality of services. The participation of the local government in distribution of water supply, and household contribution to operation and maintenance appear to have a positive impact on quality.Contact: Indranil [...]
India, Goa: Govt planning to subsidise sewage connections
12 Jan 09
Chief Minister, Digambar Kamat [of the Indian state of Goa] has announced that the government would [...] subsidise sewage connections [in] Margao as he made an impassioned plea to the household owners to connect their septic tanks and soakpits to the sewage plant and avoid a health hazard.[T]he Chief Minister said his government will not [...]
Multitranche financing: how Indian water sector is using ADB’s new financing products
09 Jan 09
India, has increased its loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the past couple of years, more than any of its Asian neighbors, after being introduced to the bank’s new financing modalities [such as the] multitranche financing facility (MFF), with its reduced commitment fees and flexible long-term management set-up.Already ongoing are four MFFs for [...]
“To you it may be ‘Shit’, to us it is MONEY”
07 Jan 09
“Shit business is serious business” is the motto of DMT Mobile Toilets in Nigeria. DMT stands for Dignified Mobile Toilets. At the beginning of 2008, DMT founder and Managing Director, Isaac Durojaiye, was one of five Ashoka-Lemelson Fellows, who were recognised for developing innovative sanitation business models.DMT’s innovative model offers a decentralized, community-based waste management [...]
Tender - Performance Review of the Rural Water Supply and Environment Programme phase IV in Amhara region, Ethiopia
04 Jan 09
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Unit for Eastern and Western Africa is inviting tenders concerning the evaluation of the Rural Water Supply and Environment Programme phase IV in Amhara region, Ethiopia.The overall objective of the evaluation is to provide clear and concrete recommendations for improved quality of operations and increased impact to achieve institutional, financial, [...]
