Step On The Box

Oikocredit SDG-Challenge '24'25

We are looking for:
Business, international policy, policy, international development cooperation

Status
Finished
Spots
6 available
Registration deadline
11 Feb 2025
Sprintday
20 Mar 2025
Location
Berkenweg 7, 3818 LA Amersfoort, Netherlands, Hybrid
1. Description of the challenge

The Problem

  • 1 out of 3 people live without basic sanitation. This causes unnecessary disease & death.
  • Billions of people lack sufficient access to safe & affordable drinking water.
  • Millions of smallholder farmers struggle to access water resources to water their crops.

What we currently do

  • We partner with NGOs: Aqua for All (in Africa & Asia) and Water.org (in Latin America)
  • Together we target financial services providers to develop products around water & sanitation for low income people, communities and micro & small enterprises.
  • Oikocredit invests money, while our NGO partners provide Technical Assistance

Results so far

  • EUR 6.8 million in financing to 6 financial services providers
  • Reaching 7,500 people and 500+ micro & small enterprises in the water & sanitation value chain

Challenge:

How can we as Oikocredit ensure that we help an additional 50,000 rural households in Africa get access to climate smart water & sanitation (WASH) solutions by 2030?

We already invest through microfinance institutions and other types of financial services providers (f.e. commercial banks). We are keen to see what other channels there are to deploy WASH solutions, where we can invest and support the further development of those solutions.

 

About Oikocredit

Oikocredit is a social impact investor and worldwide cooperative. We have over four decades of experience in promoting sustainable development through investments. We focus our investments on financial inclusion, agriculture and renewable energy. What we do: Oikocredit is guided by the principle of empowering low-income people to improve their livelihoods. We support partner organisations in Africa, Asia and Latin America by providing loans, equity investments and capacity building. Creating social impact: Social impact is at the heart of Oikocredit’s work. Through our network of local staff we’re able to respond to the needs of our partners and offer solutions that go beyond financing. We prioritise social impact while safeguarding the environment and generating fair financial returns for our investors. Supported by our members and investors Oikocredit was founded in 1975 as an ethical investment channel. The cooperative is privately financed by individuals and institutions who want to use their money for positive change. Oikocredit’s loyal and committed community of cooperative members and investors enables us to provide long-term capital to our partners.