The challenge
In Cambodia, over 400 private water operators deliver piped water to rural communities serving low-income households under 20-year government licenses. These operators are entrepreneurs who operate as for-profit businesses.
Two major challenges hold back growth:
- Financing: Extending piped water networks to all rural areas requires an estimated $2 billion in investment. The sector remains underfunded and even where financing is available operators struggle to access it due to the high collateral requirements of local banks.
- Performance: Many operators lack the technical and operational capacity to manage water systems professionally. This limits the pace of expansion and the quality of services provided.
Our approach
To address these barriers, we launched a programme in 2018 with two core components:
- Tailored, flexible financing: We provide long-term (10+ years) loans designed for licensed pipe water operators. These loans offer reduced collateral requirements compared with banks and revenue-linked repayments; operators repay more during the dry season when revenues are higher and less during the rainy season when demand drops. Loans are delivered through our Cambodian banking partner, BIDC.
- Technical assistance: To help operators strengthen performance and improve service quality, we offer hands-on support in technical design, construction, operations and sales. This assistance is provided through our local partner, AquaBridge.
In 2023, we established a new financing vehicle – the Water Revenue Financing Facility (WRFF) – to scale up this programme. The WRFF enables us to attract external capital from impact investors and banks, channelling more financing into Cambodia’s rural water sector.
Results to date
Since 2018, the programme has achieved significant impact:
- $16 million in loans deployed to 35 operators.
- 96% loan repayment rate.
- 100,000 new household connections delivered.
- $8 million raised from external impact investors.
What’s next
By 2030, our goal is to deploy $25 million in loans to over 60 operators. To achieve this, we are raising additional capital and expanding our focus on performance and service quality to maximize impact.
Through WRFF, we are not only increasing access to piped water but also generating valuable insights on how to attract more finance to the rural piped water sector and how to professionalise small operators – two of the key challenges the piped water sector faces globally.