4Ward builds market-based water businesses under its NUMA brand across Sierra Leone, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia. They have invested $80 million over 10 years and aim to reach 10 million people by 2033.
Why we invested: We provide grants and concessional loans to support the growth of their modular piped water systems and test whether their model can scale sustainably through debt financing.
KWSH is a Cambodian holding company acquiring and improving underperforming water stations to deliver sustainable rural water services at scale.
Why we invested: We fund KWSH to extend existing networks and acquire new stations, creating a financially attractive and scalable model for investors.
Safe Water Network operates locally managed water systems for underserved communities too small for utilities but too large for hand pumps. They have connected 1.7 million people globally.
Why we invested: We supported a $5 million pilot in Ghana to test the viability of the household-connection model. Following the success of this pilot, we made a further grant of $4.5 million to facilitate 11,000 new connections across 28 communities.
Water for Water is a Swiss non-profit founded in 2012 promoting the fair and sustainable use of water. They currently operate locally managed water systems for three towns in Zambia, improving household connections and operation and maintenance cost recovery at each station since their interventions started (in 2016 in Linda, 2023 in Pemba and Batoka).
Why we invested: We are supporting WfW to become a licensed operator in Southern Zambia where they aim to take on delegated management responsibilities for a cluster of seven towns, delivering clean, safe Water to the Home to over 8,000 households by 2027 through a solarised, sustainable model.
Uduma operates financially sustainable rural water systems, including piped networks, solar stations and hand pumps. They serve 1.5 million people across West Africa through private public partnerships contracts.
Why we invested: With our support Uduma is piloting household connection models in 2025, addressing adoption barriers and preparing for larger-scale expansion.