NIGERIA – Danone, through its investment fund and social business incubator, Danone Communities has invested in Impact Water Nigeria to develop access to safe drinking water.

Impact water is a social business operating an innovative model, with easy to maintain water treatment units to enhance access to safe drinking water to schools and communities in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda.

As part of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and through Danone Communities, the company seeks to accelerate access to safe drinking water for all, thus contributing to the UN’s 6th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).

This is the 7th investment in access to safe drinking water, with the program having recorded 3 million beneficiaries around the world.

With a strong portfolio and innovative model of water access, Danone says it will be able to serve the 4 billion people who still don’t have access to safe drinking water.

“4 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water.

In this context, Danone Communities announces a new investment in Impact Water Nigeria, a social business whose mission is to deliver safe drinking water, at scale, to schools and universities in Nigeria,” said the firm in a statement.

Impacting more than 3 million people everyday

Driven by the need to empower innovative social entrepreneurs to achieve sustainable social impact in low income populations, Danone Communities impacts more than 3 million people every day, said the firm.

It has been a catalyst in spreading the pioneering model called Safe Water Enterprises (SWE), a cost-effective mechanism to deliver safely treated drinking water to poor communities.

The SWE model is expected to benefit 200 million people and according to Danone Communities, adoption of the model and further collaboration will scale access to safe water to more people and communities around the world.

A 2017 World Health Organisation (WHO) report indicates that while 2.1 billion people around the globe lack access to safe, readily available water at home, 4.5 billion lack safely managed sanitation.

According to a statement by Danone Communities, 90% of water in Nigeria is contaminated implicating on the health system of the country which is fast growing demographically.

The partnership builds on Impact Water’s expertise in installing decentralized water treatment units mainly in schools and universities.

After operating in Uganda for several years, Impact Water opened a branch in Nigeria in 2017.

It works by adopting to the schools’ financial capacities, with adapted equipment pricing and with several payment options.

At the end of 2018, Impact Water Nigeria had equipped more than 5,000 schools and universities, thus impacting positively 1.8 million children.