Invitation to I4WASH 2024: 4 days that can change the life for millions

We are excited to once again welcome you to one of the most significant and ambitious WASH events of the year, I4WASH – KENYA 2024. The goal is the same as always: To jointly innovate and move all of us one step closer to eradicate the global water, sanitation and hygiene challenge facing billions of people every day.

We want everybody to have access to water. We don’t want anybody to travel for hours to get that water. And we want everybody to live good lifes, where water and sanitation is something, you don’t even think about, so that every generation incl. the youth can unfold their potential, educate, start businesses, take jobs, farm, innovate, create and engage where their hearts beat.

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I4WASH brings together the entire value chain of WASH stakeholders and provides a platform to:

Showcase innovations in the Eastern African market and the value they create within the water and sanitation sector. 

Exchanges at matches the sources and seekers of capital by inviting all participants incl. financiers to present their mission, value proposition, needs, and interests as well as their offer to partners, clients or investors.

Identify the needs and gaps impeding the adoption of new WASH solutions.

Build trust and create partnerships geared towards sustainable water and sanitation management.

Create visibility for local stakeholders who have a deep knowledge of the local context and pressure realities in which they operate, including mature for-profit solutions providers, operators and technology providers, impact investors, water utilities, government agencies and regulators, development banks, corporation and incubators.

Build the capacity and enable scaling-up of relevant water nexus technologies and business models in the local context: Leverage the interest of local organizations who innovate, including disruptive technologies and social business models, to contribute to SDGs, job creation and empowerment of minorities (i.e. youth and women).Gain understanding of policies, programmes, and interventions that the government has in place aimed at fostering positive action in sustainable water management

Gain understanding of policies, programmes, and interventions that the government has in place aimed at fostering positive action in sustainable water management.

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THE AUDIENCE

We hope to make a huge splash by gathering you from all corners of the WASH sector including;

• Government policy makers active in the water and sanitation sector e.g. Ministry of Water and Sanitation, WASPA, WASREB.
• County Government representatives
• Utility companies
• SMEs and entrepreneurs looking for partners, funding, clients or pilot projects.
• Private corporates interested in new innovative partnerships.
• Local community and informal settlements representatives
• Business federations and development organisations operating within the WASH sector
• Financiers including development finance institutions, commercial banks, institutional investors, and impact investors.
• WASH institutions (foundations, coalitions, NGOs).
• International organizations within the WASH sector.
• Universities and research institutions
• Incubators and startup communities

THE FORMAT

Every participant is invited to make a 7 minutes pitch presentation. One thought provoking panel discussion will be organized to help unpack our traction on our achievement on SDG 6. The participants come across the range of East Africa’s innovation community for WASH. We ensure we create ample chances to meet and talk for networking purposes.

Where we need to go deep, we organize special sessions beyond the pitch to co-design ways forward.

• • We focus on pitches because good commercial solutions for WASH exist. Pitches put them out there. One Innovate4WASH guiding principle is “take action”.
  • We invite a diversity of people across the sector. Another Innovate4WASH guiding principle is to “be welcoming and inclusive” because different perspectives make innovation beyond mere incremental improvements possible.
  • Every participant pitches. So, everyone contributes to the shared experience.
  • A stage and space to meet is great. Yet sometimes not enough. In facilitated smaller special sessions we take it a step further and design together how to move forward. It is part of ‘taking action’.
  • We also create limited exhibition space for participants to showcase their innovations ad encourage partnerships and collaborations

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ORGANIZING PARTNERS

Quercus Group “The world needs more coordination, collaboration and communication. Silo thinking and silo organization is too prevalent. Knowledge gaps prevent funding from reaching solutions, and solutions from reaching the problems they can solve”, Nicolai Rottboll, Founder & Chairman of Quercus Group.

Quercus Group is a hands on consultancy headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. We specialize in sustainable development and regional economic growth through collaboration and strategic partnerships. Our story began with the creation of the Europe’s largest cleantech cluster and the firm belief that collaboration and multi-stakeholder engagement can help accelerate sustainable development worldwide. We make things happen by engaging decision-makers, businesses, knowledge institutions and last but not least – people – to co-create solutions for shared global challenges.

Since our establishment in 2012 we have worked with green growth projects in 45 countries worldwide. In 2018, WASH became our main focus from the belief that access to water and proper sanitation for all people is the foundation for any other development and decent lives.

Sanitation research and development for Africa (SARDA) is a consultancy company that specializes on localizing SDG 6 in Africa. Since conception in 2018, the company has been working with a critical mass of frontline service providers to influence behavior change and develop the demand for innovative and affordable sanitation solutions at community level. These include training and coaching the innovators and entrepreneurs in adopting business practices such as creating a consumer-focused value proposition, marketing strategy, route-to-market approach and define the overall business case.

The organization strives to establish a sanitation multi-stakeholder platform that can bring together various actors along the value chain to facilitate dialogue, share knowledge, building partnership and providing business support. Backed by a team of immensely capable and committed personnel and combined with a vast hands-on experience, SARDA is committed to meet the challenging issues of environmental risk and deterioration including sanitation, wastewater management, waste management.

For more information get in touch with Mariam Njoroge (Managing Director,Quercus Group Kenya)

Phone: +254 723 341 220

E-Mail: mariam@quercus-group.com

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