Three water sources were tapped to provide drinking water for 900 members and their families. This means that around 10,000 people no longer have to leave their homes to collect clean water. They pay 200 Kenyan shillings (EUR 1.60) starting rate and 60 shillings (EUR 0.48) per thousand litres. A meter keeps track of how much water they consume. Kamaguga not only has its own water supply network, but it also has paved roads and street lighting. Demand for water is high because many people want to live here. 

WASH loans: financing access to water

The Kamuguga Water Project is pleased that Sidian Bank has supported the community since 2021 with a WASH loan: a loan for water, sanitation and hygiene.  As a result, they have been able to tap a third water source, which supplies 6,500 litres of water per hour. Peter Nganga, chair of the cooperative project, explains that electricity supply is now the biggest challenge. The pump from the second well is already running on solar power during the day, but the cooperative is eager to equip the other two wells with solar panels too. It wants to repay the current loan from Sidian Bank as soon as possible, so that it can apply for a new loan to invest in solar panels.

Sidian Bank started offering WASH loans in 2020. At the beginning of 2022, it had already provided more than 800 WASH loans to community projects such as in Kamagugua, individual customers, companies and private and public water suppliers. More than two million people have benefited from the WASH loans through the bank’s customers.

Positive benefit for local dairy farmers

Water from the Kamaguga project is vital for the Muguga Dairy Farmers Co-operative. With 600 members and 300 active dairy farmers, they process 6,000 litres of milk every day. Between them they consume about 6,000 to 7,000 litres of water. This is used for cleaning milk churns and equipment and pasteurising 4,000 litres of milk. Individual members of the milk and water cooperatives need water for their families as well as their farms. Farmer Paul Ndeywa Njau and his family have two water tanks: one containing 10,000 litres and the other 2,500 litres. The tanks are filled weekly from the Kamuguga Water Project wells. He uses it for his vegetable garden and crops and gives it to his three cows and three calves. The milk is then processed by the small dairy at the Muguga Dairy Farmers Co-operative.

Contributing to SDG 6

By offering WASH loans, Sidian Bank shows that financial inclusion – access to an affordable range of financial services – also plays a crucial role in addressing other pressing issues, such as access to clean water and sanitation. This topic has been given a global platform through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One of the goals presented by the United Nations – SDG 6 – is to ensure access to water and sanitation for all.