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Wassa East District residents to access safe water

Water4, an organisation based in the United States and its Ghanaian counterpart, Access Development Limited, have announced a joint commitment to ensure access to safe and affordable water for residents of the Wassa East District.

Date Created : 9/2/2019 12:00:00 AM : Story Author : Albert Futukpor

Mr Matt Hangen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Water4, announced the commitment in a statement issued at this years World Water Week (WWW) in Stockholm to discuss issues pertaining to access to clean water.

Access for Development Limited, a for-profit safe water enterprise, leveraged on the WWW, the annual focal point for global water issues, to demonstrate how it would help the Wassa East District authorities to achieve universal access to safe water by December, next year.

The statement said Since 2016, Access Development Limited has provided access to safe water for 56,100 people under a pilot supported by the Wassa East District Assembly, World Vision, The Hilton Foundation, Netherlands Enterprise Agency and Water4.

It said Access Development Limited cut its operational costs and increased revenue as it expanded coverage to communities within the primarily rural district.

It said Now on a financially sustainable footing, the business is prepared to scale operations to cover the rest of the district, including 20 health care facilities and 80 schools, using a branded approach called NUMA.

It said The inclusive, district-wide strategy will improve health outcomes by reaching last meter customers and will enable a cross-subsidy between lower and higher density areas to balance the dual objectives of equity and financial sustainability.

The statement quoted Mr Yidana Mahami, Director of Access Development Limited as saying By providing high-quality and convenient NUMA water services, we are realising mutual benefits for our community and our business. Investing in Wassa East has prepared us to go universal in a second district, where we hope to operate on a fully commercial basis.

He said Mr Hangen wants to see this experience and that of other safe water enterprise inform how countries fill the 2030 water financing gap, adding,The global lessons shared at Stockholm are critical for Water4s ability to roll out a district approach in Sierra Leone and Zambia.

Water4 is a non-profit organization that starts and scales social enterprises that deliver safe water to the underserved.

Founded in 2008, Water4 has been partnering with both wholly-owned subsidiaries and independent owner-operators that sell safe water on a for-profit basis.