Sustainable financing is one of the significant challenges affecting efforts towards improved basic water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions in Ghana. World Vision Ghana (WVG) has over the past years explored innovative financing arrangements to accelerate access to improved WASH facilities to contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). One of such is the WASH Microfinance Pilot Project aimed at testing other financing opportunities in collaboration with Vision Fund Ghana (VFG).
Ms. Cynthia Fosuah, the WASH software and behavioral change coordinator explained that the project is a WASH Microfinance project that is meant to facilitate access to loans in the West Gonja municipality, most especially to the vulnerable households and individuals in rural communities.
She disclosed this at a stakeholder engagement on the WASH microfinance project at Mole National Park conference hall on May 16, 2022, in the West Gonja municipal assembly of the Savannah region.
The objective of the project among others include facilitating financial access to sanitation financing, improving the WASH value chain support to businesses, entrepreneurs, households, established WASH businesses and vulnerable communities within the West Gonja municipality.
The project will also increase access to WASH education and behavior for poor vulnerable communities and children. It will as well improve local capacity to manage and sustain WASH services in the area.
The project is set to kick off on May, 2022, and it’s expected to run through to September, 2023.
World Vision Ghana is working with partners Vision Fund Ghana, a financial institution, to disburse the loans to individuals, households and businesses to help improve sanitation.
About one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) loan facility will be made available to the ten (10) Open Defecation Free (ODF) communities within the municipality.
Cynthia Fosuah added that there are internal processes to ensure that loans are given to credit worthy individuals, households, businesses to support World Vision Ghana in it’s maiden implementation within the West Gonja municipality.
World Vision Ghana is also working with it’s internal and external stakeholders who have supported the institution to succeed in previous projects to expand their expertise to support this WASH microfinance project. Basically, the loans will be given to people who are credit worthy with the support of community opinion leaders. Consideration will be extended to the vulnerable households communities with some subsidies to help them access the loans.
World Vision and partners such as environmental health, will work to ensure demand creation activities using the available platforms.
World Vision Ghana, will also collaborate with district works department to certify quality of artisan work to assist the project, Ghana Enterprise Agency will support WASH entrepreneurship training and facilitate savings group into cooperatives.
World Vision Ghana will also partner with a research institution to collect relevant data on sustainable sanitation financing and Vision Fund Ghana will do the marketing and loan disbursement.
World Vision Ghana since 2016, has delivered 580 communities Open Defecation Free (ODF) in the country.
She lamented that some environmental practicing gaps such as poor disposal system, lack of enforcement of laws, lack of sustainable financing, high cost of sanitation technology, among others must be addressed to help improve sanitation in the country.
World Vision Ghana is targeting certified ten (10) open defecation free communities to implement the project and with 100% connection to these areas.
She further stated that some 1.3% and 1% upfront payment as insurance will be made for businesses and individuals respectively. This upfront payment is to cover for death, disability and period of sickness.
Stakeholders were drawn from regional, municipal/ district assemblies, NGOs, Vision Fund Ghana, hon Assembly Members, among others.
Mr. Torbi Daniel, Vision Fund’s regional director for the five regions of the nothern zone, said that
Vision Fund Ghana, a micro lending group with over two (2) decades of experience, has the mandate to disburse the funds to individuals, households and businesses who will need to tap into the WASH project. This project is to empower the rural communities with micro loans, these loans will be disbursed to community members who are ready to put up laterines, work on water projects and any other affiliated project to World Vision Ghana or Vision Fund Ghana.
Individuals, households can access the loan between GhC500 and GHC2,500. For businesses, the cap is GHC20,000 with fifteen (15%) annual interest.
Business will be assessed to determined their capacity and credit worthiness with some guaranters required. Individuals will be accessed as well before the loans are disbursed.
