MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Launches Water Access Acceleration Fund (W2AF) with $39m to Invest in Africa, Asia

The Belgium-based investment firm Incofin recently launched the Water Access Acceleration Fund (W2AF), a private equity fund with the objective of reaching 30 million people with access to safe drinking water, primarily in Africa and Asia. In particular

SPECIAL REPORT: Chamroeun Microfinance Scaling Up to Fund SMEs Supplying Piped Water in Cambodia

e-MFP logoYannick Milev of Cambodia’s Chamroeun Microfinance presented today at European Microfinance Week on the lender’s expansion into providing loans as large as USD 250,000 to private companies that supply piped water to households in Cambodia. In rural parts of the country, the government issues monopolies to private water providers to serve given areas. Approximately 400 companies are licensed to receive these monopolies.

In designing the loan product, Chamroeun employed a technical assistance grant of

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oikocredit, Aqua for All to Invest $17m in Water, Sanitation in Africa, Cambodia

Two Dutch entities, the cooperative investor Oikocredit and the nonprofit Aqua for All, recently launched a two-year partnership to facilitate access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in Cambodia as well as unspecified countries in East and West Africa. Oikocredit has agreed to invest up to EUR 15 million (USD 15.6 million) in

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DFC Agrees to Loan $100m to WaterEquity Global Access Fund to Boost Access to Clean Drinking Water, Sanitation

The government-backed US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) recently agreed to loan USD 100 million to the WaterEquity Global Access Fund and disbursed the first tranche of USD 25 million. US-based investment manager WaterEquity launched the Global Access Fund with the goal of raising USD 150 million to “empower at least 5 million people to access improved water and sanitation across Asia, Latin America and Africa.” The terms of the loan from DFC

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Water.org’s WaterEquity Borrows $10.5m from Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to Invest in Clean Water, Sanitation

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the development finance institution of the US government, recently informed MicroCapital that it has loaned USD 10.5 million to WaterCredit Investment Fund 3, which is managed by WaterEquity, a “social impact investment manager” founded by US-based NGO Water.org. WaterEquity, which seeks “to deliver universal access to safe water and sanitation,” was launched in 2016. Since then, it reports having reached 400,000 people via investments in 13 microfinance institutions and