Azure Source Capital

About

Azure Source Capital (Azure) helps improve water supply for 300,000 men and women, by combining financial support with training so local residents can operate their own water systems. El Salvador faces chronic water shortages resulting from delayed and insufficient investment in infrastructure, exacerbated by climate change. One-third of the population is dependent on external water delivery, and an estimated two-thirds of the country’s water systems need major capital investment to ensure reliable access to clean drinking water. The COVID-19 pandemic has also exacerbated these challenges, with stay-at-home orders making it harder to travel to a source of clean water, even as hand washing and sanitation became more critical.  

Approach and impact

Financing to Azure, a special lending vehicle, has supported loans to small cities and rural communities for investment in new and rehabilitated water pumps, pipelines, and storage tanks. Azure combines financial support with training (engineering guidance and business support) ensuring local residents can reliably operate their own water systems. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Azure adopted special measures and provided support to help restore water services to about 10,000 families and 11 community and municipal water service providers. Because the task of collecting clean water often falls to women, and can become a time-consuming chore, the project advances DFC’s 2X Women’s Initiative to economically empower women to improve their consumption of quality water services. Catholic Relief Services and impact investor Total Impact Capital are also sponsors of the project.