Kampala, October 2025 | In a decisive move that could redefine Uganda’s water and sanitation landscape, Equity Bank Uganda and Water.org have entered a strategic partnership designed to unlock affordable financing for the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector, a frontier long constrained by limited investment and fragmented funding models.
The high-level launch event, held at Protea Hotel Kampala, convened a cross-section of government officials, development partners, and private sector leaders who hailed the collaboration as both timely and visionary; an intersection between finance and social transformation.
Ms. Catherine Psomgen, Equity Bank Uganda’s Director for Public Sector and Social Investment, described the alliance as “a pivotal advancement in our shared mission to create inclusive, sustainable, and economically empowering communities.” She explained that the initiative extends a successful 14-year collaboration between Water.org and Equity Bank Kenya, whose pioneering credit models notably the Maji Loan and Jamii Safi Loan have empowered thousands of households to invest in clean water systems and improved sanitation facilities.
“Access to safe water is not merely a social good; it is the infrastructure of dignity, health, and productivity,” Ms. Psomgen said. “Through this partnership, we are not only financing water — we are financing transformation.”
The partnership comes at a critical juncture. A 2023 sector assessment revealed that Uganda faces a financing gap of over UGX 10 trillion annually to meet its national water and sanitation targets. Despite significant policy efforts, 68% of Ugandans still lack reliable access to clean water, posing a direct challenge to national development and public health.
Under the new framework, Equity Bank Uganda will deploy its EquiGreen Loan portfolio, a sustainable financing window tailored to the environmental and social impact space, to fund household, enterprise, and community-based water and sanitation projects. The initiative will be supported by technical assistance from Water.org, targeted capacity building for Equity Bank staff, and impact monitoring systems to ensure measurable outcomes aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation) and SDG 13: Climate Action.
Mr. Francis Musinguzi, Water.org’s Africa Regional Director, underscored the centrality of water in all dimensions of human and economic activity. “There is no development agenda that can succeed without addressing access to water,” he said. He emphasized that sustainable financing, digital integration, and ecosystem collaboration must converge if Uganda is to achieve long-term resilience in water and sanitation infrastructure.
In his address, Dr. Callist Tindimugaya, Commissioner for Water Resources at the Ministry of Water and Environment, welcomed the initiative as a strong complement to the government’s National Water Investment Programme, which seeks to accelerate universal water access through coordinated public-private engagement.
“No single institution can achieve this alone. Partnerships like this one expand the financing ecosystem and translate policy commitments into tangible community impact,” Dr. Tindimugaya noted.
Ms. Yunia Musazi, Executive Director of UWASANET, positioned the partnership as a benchmark for sustainable financing models in the WASH sector, observing that Uganda loses approximately UGX 6 trillion annually in productivity and healthcare costs due to inadequate water and sanitation infrastructure.
“This collaboration represents the kind of strategic innovation required to reverse that trend,” she said.
Beyond its financial mechanics, the partnership signals a philosophical shift: that water security is not a charitable endeavour but a sustainable investment frontier. It also reinforces Uganda’s commitment to leveraging private capital in solving deeply social challenges, a hallmark of the country’s evolving growth narrative.
For Rising Nation, this partnership embodies the essence of Uganda’s transformation agenda, where development is increasingly driven not by aid dependency but by creative financial architecture, institutional synergy, and a shared vision for human dignity.
As the first loans begin to flow and water taps reopen in underserved communities, this initiative stands as a testament to what can be achieved when purpose, finance, and innovation align the steady rise of a nation investing not just in infrastructure, but in its people.
