Investing in Water Services
Azure mobilizes capital and technical expertise to upgrade and expand water services for the poor in rural and urban communities of El Salvador.
Azure mobilizes capital to finance water system expansion and improvements.
Azure Source Capital (ASC) provides capital to local financial institutions (rural banks and credit cooperatives) to on-lend to water service providers at competitive interest rates. ASC is capitalized by Catholic Relief Services, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and other social impact investors.
Azure provides technical support and engineering services to Water Service Providers.
The Azure Technical Services provides engineering services and training to Water Service Providers, and facilitates loans between local financial institutions and water service providers, including small urban water utilities and community water boards in rural communities.
Water service providers need technical support and capital to upgrade water systems.
2/3 of rural and small urban water systems require major capital infusions to improve and expand water services. 25% of El Salvador’s population does not have access to piped water (1.8 million people). Some people must rely on water trucks that charge $5 per cubic meter which is 5 times the cost of piped water installed in homes.
Water services are improved and become more profitable.
Water system expansions and upgrades will improve the quality and reliability of water services while strengthening the business capacity of local water service providers. Azure aims to work with 200 water service providers during the next five years to improve services for 325,000 people.
Azure is catalyzing financial capital and building local capacity to deliver sustainable water services for marginalized communities.
The primary driver of Azure is the financial capital of water system end users, including people in poor and marginalized communities. Poor water services are costing the poor more money for less water, than if they had access to water through piped water systems. The combination of technical support plus strategic investments can make water services less costly for water users in most cases.
Azure's Partners
Azure has established strategic partnerships with these international organizations.
