World Water Day 2025: Tackling Water Security Through Sustainable Business Models

I n the heart of Africa, countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic illustrate the ongoing stagnation in Sub-Saharan Africa’s progress towards reaching universal basic water services by 2030. Although many nations have made commendable strides, the pressures of climate change on a growing population have compelled communities not only to expand their water supply but also, in some cases, to seek alternatives to traditional sources.

With inadequate access to safe water and poor sanitation persisting across numerous Sub-Saharan African countries, World Water Day presents a crucial opportunity to spotlight African-led solutions. These solutions integrate innovative technologies, adaptive practices, and sustainable business models, offering reliable alternatives that address local water challenges and support neighboring regions.

One inspiring example comes from Yvette Ishimwe, founder of IRIBA Water Group and winner of the 2022 YouthADAPT Challenge, an annual competition and awards program for youth-led enterprises jointly organized by the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and Climate Investment Funds (CIF). Yvette recently shared with the GCA how her upbringing in a rural Rwandan community inspired her to establish IRIBA Water Group. Today, the organization promotes business development, fosters local economic growth, and bolsters climate resilience by providing sustainable, safe, and affordable drinking water.

IRIBA was born out of a personal experience. The impact of water insecurity is massive, affecting every aspect of life.

Inaccessibility to clean water has many consequences. In my case, what really pushed me to think about a solution was seeing children miss school because they spent entire days walking long distances to fetch water. Women, too, were unable to focus on productive activities—whether running a business or working on their farms—because they spent hours collecting water for household use. And after all that effort, the water they struggled so much to obtain was still not clean or safe.

So, despite sacrificing time and opportunities, people were still drinking contaminated water, leading to waterborne diseases. The impact of this issue is far-reaching—there are social consequences, economic consequences (as people can’t focus on work or education), and serious health implications due to poor water quality.

Poor hygiene is another major challenge. In water-scarce communities, hygiene is often not even a consideration. When people don’t have enough water for basic necessities like cooking and drinking, things like washing hands or cleaning properly become almost impossible. This was something I witnessed firsthand, and it’s what inspired me to start this initiative.
Since launching our first water plant in a rural area, we’ve expanded our solutions to include water ATMs in various communities, schools, and urban areas. The impact has been significant:

• Affordable Clean Water: We’ve made clean drinking water accessible even to low-income populations. Previously, packaged water was considered a luxury—something only wealthier individuals could afford. Now, street vendors and people earning less than $5 a day can access purified water without seeing it as an unaffordable expense.
• Job Creation: Every water ATM we install creates employment. Young people operate these ATMs, earning commissions of up to 40% on sales. Many use their earnings to support their families or further their education.
• Reducing Plastic Waste: One of the most exciting impacts we’ve seen is shifting the mindset around plastic consumption. In places like the DRC and Bangui in the Central African Republic, people have realized that they don’t need disposable plastic bottles or sachets to access clean water. Instead, they can use reusable containers, getting only the water they need without unnecessary waste.

Although this model has led to increased competition, with other organizations replicating our approach, we’re proud to have pioneered this change. Even if it presents challenges from a business perspective, it’s incredibly rewarding to see our impact as a social enterprise inspiring a shift towards more sustainable water consumption.

Over the past few years, we’ve nearly doubled our reach annually. Initially, we tracked our impact on a quarterly basis, but we’ve now shifted to annual reporting. Last year, we reached approximately 572,000 people across all three countries.

This year, we’re expanding further by doubling our infrastructure, including the number of water ATMs, particularly in schools. We’ve launched a new program that provides schools with water ATMs free of charge. To fund this initiative, we leverage climate finance by selling carbon credits, allowing us to support underserved schools in rural and hard-to-reach areas, as well as public schools where students often lack access to purified drinking water.

If all goes as planned, by the end of this year, we expect to provide clean drinking water to over 750,000 people every day. That’s a summary of our progress in terms of reach and impact.

They all need to be taken into consideration because they are equally important. In the past, we have seen significant technical investments, with a lot of infrastructure being developed. For example, in some African countries, infrastructure coverage exceeds 93–94%.

However, actual water service levels can drop below 40%, which is always surprising. It raises the question: what is going wrong? What is missing? These gaps often come from overlooking the social, educational, and environmental aspects. As a result, much of the infrastructure investment has not been utilized as effectively as expected.

These three aspects must be given equal attention. Until we reach a stage where everyone understands the importance of this infrastructure—why we need clean water and how to sustain it—the problem will persist. On the social and educational side, people need awareness programs and campaigns to drive behavioral change.

Additionally, clean water alone is not enough. If people have access to clean water but lack proper hygiene practices, there will still be no real improvement in health outcomes. Since better health is one of the main goals of clean water programs, the educational component is just as important as the technical one.

On the environmental side, climate change is increasingly impacting water supply in many areas. This creates a greater need for decentralized infrastructure. Instead of relying on a single massive water plant to supply an entire province or city, we need smaller, community-based water supply systems. When a centralized plant fails, an entire city can be left without clean water. In contrast, decentralized systems create more resilient communities and water systems.
When addressing water security, it is crucial to consider three aspects together:

• Building resilient water systems that can withstand environmental challenges.
• Ensuring infrastructure investments are effectively used and maintained through education and awareness.
• Securing sufficient investment to expand and sustain water infrastructure.
  This holistic approach is key to solving water security challenges in a lasting and impactful way.

Our vision for IRIBA in the coming years is to expand access to affordable, clean drinking water. By 2030, we aim to reach 5 million people through the installation of smart water ATMs in communities and schools across multiple countries.

To scale our impact, we plan to introduce what we call the “Master Area Franchise” model. This approach will allow us to replicate our model in various communities by partnering with local enterprises and organizations, rather than expanding country by country ourselves.
 
Additionally, we expect to create up to 2,000 jobs through this franchise system. So far, 86% of our workforce consists of women, and we anticipate that trend will continue as we grow. Interestingly, while we always intended to involve more women, we’ve found that many naturally gravitate toward running these franchises. We hope to keep inspiring more women entrepreneurs to take advantage of this opportunity.

As for the role of technology in improving clean water access, I believe it is essential. Technology enhances efficiency, effectiveness, and long-term sustainability—financially, technically, and environmentally. It enables us to track the environmental impact of water infrastructure and ensure proper maintenance and management. Moving forward, leveraging both existing and emerging technologies will be critical in making clean water access not only widespread and reliable but also truly sustainable.

I think climate adaptation is very important, especially for the private sector. As more awareness is raised, it becomes easier for entrepreneurs to integrate different adaptation models into their work.
In our case, we’ve launched a rainwater harvesting system that works alongside our water ATMs. In areas where there is potential to capture rainwater, this helps reduce water costs and ensures a more reliable water supply. We’ve implemented this in many schools, particularly under our carbon project, where more than 50% of the schools we serve are collecting rainwater. This water is then purified using our ATMs to make it safe for drinking.

From a business perspective, this is not just an agenda being pushed forward—it is a practical and viable solution. Of course, we have a responsibility to adopt these measures, but it also makes sense as a business strategy. Climate adaptation can and should be integrated into private sector initiatives.

I think one of the most important roles that local governments, NGOs, and private enterprises can play is raising awareness. Behavior change requires a lot of effort, so investing resources into educating communities about climate adaptation mechanisms is crucial.

Another key aspect is policy advocacy. It’s essential to have policies that truly support and promote these adaptation solutions. For example, governments could provide subsidies for materials needed to implement these solutions or reduce taxes on relevant products.

With strong awareness efforts and supportive policies in place, we can drive widespread adoption of these technologies and make significant progress toward climate resilience and adaptation.
 

There is definitely a significant funding gap in the water sector. One of the key strategies that has worked for us at IRIBA is diversifying our revenue streams so that we don’t rely solely on external funding to sustain and grow our work.

For us, this means developing products and services that generate sales revenue while still aligning with our mission. By ensuring that our initiatives are not only impactful but also economically viable, we can continue scaling regardless of whether we receive external funding.
Another important approach has been exploring alternative revenue streams. For example, we are now entering the carbon market, which has the potential to become a valuable source of funding that can help us expand our impact.

Of course, securing partnerships and external funding is also helpful—it can accelerate growth and allow us to scale faster than we could with revenue alone. However, we see external funding as a “nice to have” rather than a “must-have” for survival. The most important strategy is ensuring that in-house revenue streams are strong enough to sustain operations, with external funding serving as an added boost rather than a dependency.

I think, naturally, women and young people have a strong instinct to care for their communities and the environment. There’s often a deep sense of responsibility to take action. However, societal norms and personal doubts can sometimes hold them back.

That’s why women empowerment programs are so important. As these initiatives grow, more women and young entrepreneurs realize they can step up and implement meaningful solutions for their communities. The more support they receive, the more we will see innovative ideas emerging from them.

At the same time, a lot of progress has already been made, and we should be encouraged by that. Take, for example, youth-focused programs like the Youth ADAPT Challenge—initiatives like these give young people the voice, resources, and support they need to bring their ideas to life or scale up existing projects.

Beyond just empowering individual women or youth, these programs have a ripple effect. When one person succeeds, it inspires others. If someone sees a peer—maybe a neighbor or colleague—successfully launching an initiative, they realize that they, too, can make a difference.

So, by supporting the women and young entrepreneurs who are already taking action, we’re not just helping them—we’re encouraging entire communities to step forward and be part of the change.

One of the most urgent actions that need to be taken to achieve climate-resilient economies as we move forward is raising awareness about climate change, climate resilience, and climate adaptation. These concepts need to reach everyone, down to the last mile, even the most vulnerable and least educated populations—because they are often on the frontlines. Right now, when we look at climate change discussions, they tend to be highly technical, filled with complex terminology, and mostly limited to experts in the field. Even people who are educated but work in different sectors often struggle to fully grasp what is being discussed. And if we continue that way, we’ll end up with endless conversations but very few tangible results and real actions from the broader population.

It’s very important to simplify the way we communicate these issues and ensure that the message is clear and accessible. Even a child should be able to understand the basic concepts of climate resilience. We also need to make sure this awareness is adapted to different communities and cultures because people consume information differently across regions and backgrounds. The more localized and accessible the messaging is, the more likely people will understand and take action.

The second urgent action is building financially sustainable models around water resilience and supply. It’s important to have initiatives that don’t rely entirely on external funding but can stand on their own. We’ve seen many projects collapse when major funding sources, like USAID, are suddenly cut. But for those that have developed their own independent revenue streams, external funding cuts may be a setback, but they are not catastrophic. It’s a shock, but not a killing shock. So it’s really important to focus on models that can sustain themselves financially, allowing them to survive and continue their work regardless of external circumstances.

The third critical action is policy advocacy. In some countries, government policies make it easier for sustainable initiatives to thrive, while in others, they create additional challenges. For example, in Rwanda, implementing our model has been easier because the country has banned plastic sachets. Even though bottled water is still available, it’s something the government is phasing out, and policies have been put in place to support that shift. But in other countries, like the Central African Republic or the DRC, plastic sachets are still widely used. That makes it difficult for solutions like ours to compete because the market is still dominated by unsustainable options. So, having the right policies in place is critical to ensuring that climate and water resilience initiatives can succeed.

These three areas—raising awareness, building financially sustainable models, and advocating for strong policies—are the most urgent actions we need to take today if we want to build water-resilient economies for the future. If we don’t take them seriously, we will struggle to make meaningful progress in the next 10, 20, or 30 years.
 

The ideas presented in this article aim to inspire adaptation action – they are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Global Center on Adaptation.

Related blog posts: