Another impact enterprise in the WASH space is using Impact-linked Finance to deepen its impact: Hear from Nikolai Schwarz, Country Director Cambodia at ATEC, what SIINC can do to help drive the company’s impact journey.
The Social Impact Incentives for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (SIINC for WASH) is an innovative, results-based financing program co-designed and implemented by Roots of Impact and Aqua for All. It rewards selected water and sanitation enterprises with time-limited payments for achieving additional social and environmental impact. Khmer Water Supply Holdings (KWSH) is one of the program’s first beneficiaries.
About ATEC
Developed by Engineers Without Borders Australia and Live & Learn Environmental Education, ATEC provides biodigesters to smallholder farmers in Cambodia and more recently also in Bangladesh. The standalone biodigester collects waste (mostly manure, but also human and bio waste) and transforms it into biogas for clean cooking and organic fertilizer. This, in turn, translates into many benefits for both the people and the planet. ATEC has pioneered the first PAYGO model for biodigesters that gives smallholder farmers the opportunity to pay off in installments using digital money. -> check out more details in the ATEC case study!
The enterprise’s experiences with SIINC, the drivers for its exciting impact journey and some surprises with culture and customers are vividly described in this inspiring interview with Nikolai Schwarz, ATEC’s Country Director in Cambodia -> read it now!
Visit the SIINC for WASH page
In August 2020, Aqua for All and Roots of Impact launched the first SIINC for WASH’s call for applications. It attracted 140 applications from 33 countries across Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Even though the initial plan was to finance two cases, three promising enterprises were finally selected. Aqua for All has allocated €1.2 million to fund the four enterprises for a period up to 36 months.
A quote from the entrepreneur
“SIINC is a fantastic tool to make harder to reach market segments commercially attractive and more accessible. Building the SIINC metrics into our financial modelling definitely reduces our risk profile and positively impacts our access to and interactions with current and future investors. For us, it’s a quality seal and a way to clearly steer us towards impact. It also demonstrates that we are able to make use of highly innovative impact finance mechanisms and get out of our comfort zone by trying something new. “
Nikolai Schwarz, Country Manager Cambodia, ATEC
