NABSAMRUDDHI participates in its first international Exposure visit – Cross Learning on WASH funding- Nairobi, Kenya -05 to 09 February 2024

NABSAMRUDDHI, represented by Bonani Roychoudhury, Managing Director and Alisha Mathew Varghese, Senior VP, were part of a cohort of 17 delegates representing India, Bangladesh and Latin America, on a WASH exposure and cross learning visit to Nairobi, Kenya, hosted by Water.org team of East Africa.

The purpose of the Exposure visit was to provide an opportunity for thought leaders, practitioners and other stakeholders involved in the WASH space in the Global South to exchange cross country ideas and experiences, to chart out pathways for partnerships and enable replication of effective models.

NABSAMRUDDHI, being the leading homegrown WASH Capital provider covering all sectors and the entire risk rating spectrum in India, benefited greatly from this visit in understanding how a water starved country like Kenya is managing its financial landscape to support WASH interventions and gained insights into innovative financial products which can be adopted through funding and technical support.

It also helped improve the company’s brand positioning globally, fostering an international networking channel which is expected to pay rich dividends in the future aimed towards the common goal under SDG 6 of ensuring access to safe water and clean sanitation for all.

NABSAMRUDDHI contributed to the programme by providing deep insights into its own guiding vision, its ingenious initiatives especially in promoting climate resilient WASH and in ensuring last mile reach.

The inputs shared by the team on the performances, achievements and experiences in building, mainstreaming and sustaining the WASH eco-system along with an overview of the financial and regulatory landscape of India was greatly appreciated by the banking teams and Water.org partners, so much so, that it extended into an invite to NABSAMRUDDHI to set up a branch in Africa.

Over the course of the week, NABSAMRUDDHI representatives visited Water.org’s partners in WASH financing in Africa, which included

  • Family Bank, a leading bank having the 4th largest branch network in Kenya, providing tailor-made financial solutions to Water Service Providers, including MSMEs and Community Associations under their MajiPlus credit programme (Maji- Water)
    and
  • Equity Bank, the second largest bank in Kenya, also having presence in, Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania, DRC, Ethiopia with more than 16.9 million customers making it the largest bank in terms of customer base in Africa. The bank is running an innovative platform based supply chain financing model for WASH equipment -which is worthy of emulation in India to upscale WASH funding.

The agenda also covered engagements with AMFI-K (Association for Microfinance Institutions in Kenya) and noteworthy MFIs from Africa and South Asia who are active in the WASH funding universe.

Further, field visits were undertaken to 8 underlying borrowers covering households, proprietors, SMEs and Community Welfare associations. These borrowers (including 3 Water Service Providers) were supported with WASH loans by Banks or the MFIs to install rain water harvesting structures, solarisation of pump sets, supply of treated water for household as well as farming purposes, among others. The borrowers have first-hand witnessed the transformative impact of the water solutions and enthusiastically endorsed them as trusted ambassadors within their community.

The presence of Senior officials of Water.org including African Regional Director, Francis Musinguzi, Country Director/Regional Business Lead-Africa, Anthony Githinji, Director Financial Institution – South Asia, Sudhir Arya, Regional Director, Latin America – Rocio Cavazos, Portfolio Lead, Financial Institutions - South Asia- Abu Aslam ably supported by key members of their respective teams through the course of the week was a socio-culturally immersive and rich experience which greatly benefited each of the participants and was instrumental in changing perspectives for the better.