WaterFund

What WaterFund does

WaterFund, legally the Water Sector Trust Fund, is a Kenyan State Corporation established under the Water Act, 2016 and operating under the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation. Originally constituted as the Water Services Trust Fund under the Water Act, 2002, the institution holds a statutory mandate to provide conditional and unconditional grants to Kenya's 47 Counties and to finance the development and management of water and sanitation services in marginalized and underserved areas. Its programme portfolio comprises four core lines: an Urban Programme supporting water and sanitation projects in low-income settlements; a Rural Programme serving underserved rural communities; a Water Resources and Climate Change Programme for catchment protection; and a Commercial Financing / Results-Based Financing (RBF) line that subsidizes commercial loans to Water Service Providers upon verified delivery of outcomes.

The organization's flagship mechanisms are the Output-Based Aid (OBA) Programme and the Up-scaling Basic Sanitation for the Urban Poor (UBSUP) programme. OBA disburses performance-based subsidies covering up to 60% of project costs (capped at US$115 per beneficiary) in three tranches tied to loan signing, physical works verification, and household connection verification. UBSUP combines post-construction incentives (KSh 20,000 per new toilet, KSh 15,000 per rehabilitated toilet) with a network of 18 operational Decentralized Treatment Facilities that treat faecal waste outside conventional sewerage systems. WaterFund also operates the MajiData database, which maps over 1,880 low-income urban settlements using quality-of-life indicators, and the JAOME monitoring platform for sector-wide tracking.

WaterFund's business model is grant-making rather than commercial. It is funded primarily by development partners including KfW, The Gates Foundation, the World Bank's Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid, SIDA, USAID, and the Government of Kenya, with US$11.10M secured for the OBA Fund and KSh 1.46B for UBSUP. Beneficiaries do not pay for grant services; instead, WaterFund channels conditional and unconditional grants through Counties and Water Service Providers. It does not operate as a software vendor, but it does publish data platforms (JAOME) and toolkits (SafiSan Toolkit, Horn of Africa Groundwater for Resilience Toolkit) that supplement its grant programmes. The institution has won the United Nations Public Service Award twice (2019 for UBSUP, 2021 for OBA), positioning it as a recognized global innovator in development-financing models for water and sanitation.

Name

WaterFund

Legal name

Water Sector Trust Fund

Website

https://waterfund.go.ke

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

WaterFund (Water Sector Trust Fund) is a Kenyan State Corporation that provides conditional and unconditional grants, plus results-based financing, to Counties and Water Service Providers to develop water and sanitation services in marginalized and underserved areas of Kenya.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Water and Sanitation Financing

NAICS

Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131), Sewage Treatment Facilities (22132), Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Water, Sewage and Other Systems (2213)

SIC

Water Supply (4941), Sanitary Services (4950)

akta.pro primary industry

Water Supply & Wastewater Utilities Administration (BPAIACAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM), Non‑Potable Reuse Utilities (Irrigation, Industrial, Cooling) (EUANAGAA), Climate Finance Funds & Green Investment Facilities (BPADACAH), Water & Waste / Circular Economy Funds (FSANAJAF)

Keywords

• Water and sanitation financing
• Government grant programs
• Results-based financing
• Water infrastructure development
• Sanitation services funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Nairobi

HQ country

Kenya

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Disbursements: WaterFund receives government funding and development partner contributions to provide conditional and unconditional grants to Counties for water and sanitation infrastructure development in marginalized and underserved areas.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

WaterFund is a Kenyan State Corporation that provides conditional and unconditional grants to the 47 Counties of Kenya and results-based financing to Water Service Providers (WSPs) to support the development of water supply and sanitation infrastructure in marginalised and underserved urban and rural areas. Its offerings include the Urban Programme, Rural Programme, Water Resources & Climate Change Programme, and a Commercial Financing (Results-Based Financing) track that pairs commercial loans with Output-Based Aid (OBA) subsidies disbursed upon verified delivery of outputs.

Product overview

WaterFund (Water Sector Trust Fund) is a Kenyan government financing agency that provides conditional and unconditional grants and results-based financing to support water and sanitation services. Its portfolio consists of four main grant programmes (Urban, Rural, Water Resources & Climate Change, and Commercial Financing/Results-Based Financing), supplemented by data platforms (JAOME Data) and toolkits (SafiSan Toolkit, Horn of Africa Groundwater for Resilience Toolkit). The organisation also implements specialised programmes including the Output-Based Aid (OBA) Programme and the Up-scaling Basic Sanitation for the Urban Poor (UBSUP) programme. Rather than selling software products, WaterFund acts as a funding mechanism that provides grants and subsidies to counties and Water Service Providers to develop water and sanitation infrastructure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Urban Programme Provides grant support for water supply and sanitation projects in urban low-income areas of Kenya, financing infrastructure such as water kiosks and household connections through County Governments and Water Service Providers.
• Water and Sanitation Services - Rural Programme Supports implementation of water supply and sanitation projects for underserved rural communities in Kenya through grants channelled via County Governments.
• Water Resources & Climate Change Programme Supports communities to effectively manage and conserve their water resources within sub-catchments, including catchment protection activities and climate change adaptation for water resources.
• Commercial Financing (Results-Based Financing) Supports water and sanitation projects in urban low-income areas through commercial loans to Water Service Providers that are subsidised upon achievement of agreed outcomes; encompasses the Output-Based Aid Programme.
• Output-Based Aid (OBA) Programme Performance-based subsidy programme that incentivises Water Service Providers to extend water and sanitation services to low-income areas using commercial loans. OBA grants of up to 60% of investment cost are disbursed based on verified outputs: 10% on loan signing, 45% on physical works verification, and 45% on household connection verification.
• Up-scaling Basic Sanitation for the Urban Poor (UBSUP) Sanitation programme providing affordable solutions across the sanitation value chain including post-construction incentives of KSh 20,000 for new toilets and KSh 15,000 for rehabilitated toilets, and works with Decentralized Treatment Facilities (DTFs) to cover faecal waste containment, emptying, transport, treatment, and reuse.
• JAOME Data Joint Annual Operations Monitoring Exercise - a data platform for monitoring water sector operations and investments across Kenya.
• SafiSan Toolkit A toolkit published by WaterFund for sanitation services and management.
• Horn of Africa Groundwater for Resilience Toolkit A toolkit for groundwater management and resilience in the Horn of Africa region.

Quantifiable outcome

• 400,000 people targeted with improved sanitation services through UBSUP programme
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• GIZcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGIZ provided technical support for the UBSUP programme implementation alongside WaterFund.
• Ministry of Water, Sanitation and IrrigationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWaterFund operates under the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation as a Kenyan State Corporation established under the Water Act, 2016.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• World Bank Water Global Practice: Multilateral financier of water and sanitation programmes globally, including the GPOBA grant that funds WaterFund's OBA work. Comparable as the upstream funder of WaterFund's RBF architecture and a broader incumbent in WASH financing.
• GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit): German development agency providing technical assistance and co-financing for WASH programmes worldwide, including UBSUP in Kenya. Comparable as both a financial and technical partner to WaterFund and a broader incumbent in sector capacity-building.

Direct peers

• WaterAid: Global non-profit focused on delivering clean water, sanitation and hygiene in low-income countries, including across Africa. Comparable to WaterFund as it channels donor and grant funding toward WASH infrastructure in marginalised communities and works through local service providers.
• Aqua for All: Dutch-based impact fund and accelerator that mobilises public and private capital for water and sanitation in developing countries. Comparable to WaterFund as a results-based financing intermediary for WASH projects in low-income markets.
• WaterEquity: Impact investment manager deploying catalytic capital into water and sanitation enterprises in emerging markets. Comparable to WaterFund's blended-finance and OBA model, which similarly uses concessional capital to leverage commercial financing for WASH outcomes.
• Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP): Multi-donor advisory and financing organisation that supports water and sanitation service delivery for low-income urban communities, particularly in Africa. Closely comparable to WaterFund's Urban Programme and UBSUP model.
• Water.org: International NGO that mobilises commercial capital and donor funds to finance water and sanitation access for low-income households in developing countries. Highly comparable to WaterFund because both use results-based financing and household-level subsidy mechanisms to extend WASH services to underserved populations.

Others

• Convergence Blended Finance: Global network for blended finance, curating and catalysing structures that combine concessional and commercial capital for development goals. Comparable to WaterFund as an enabling peer in the blended-finance ecosystem that supports WASH and SDG outcomes.
• SNV Netherlands Development Organisation: Dutch development organisation with large WASH portfolios in Africa and Asia, working with government and private sector partners. Comparable to WaterFund as a multi-donor implementer focused on inclusive WASH service delivery.
• IRC WASH: International think-and-do tank that works on systems change in water, sanitation and hygiene in developing countries. Comparable as a sector knowledge and capacity-building peer; WaterFund's JAOME and SafiSan toolkits serve a similar enabling function.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/wstfkenya2
• Xx.com/wstf_ke
• Facebookfacebook.com/kewstf

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about WaterFund