Sierra Leonean water business So Pure accesses new financing following ARIA support

Zvilo, a working capital lender, is partnering with So Pure to support the scale of treatment and distribution of safe drinking water across Sierra Leone.  

This deal underlines the potential that investors are seeing across the economy. It follows recent investments from the IFC in cement production and financial services, and an investment from AgDevCo in edible oils.  

So Pure provides households across Sierra Leone with clean water, handling every step of the supply chain: purifying the water, packaging it into half-litre sachets or large dispenser 20-litre bottles, and then distributing it to kiosk shops across the Freetown region.   

Since 2019, the company has focused on water purification and filling up sachets sourced from a range of local packaging suppliers. This expansion phase aims to distribute 10-12 million litres of purified drinking water monthly by year-end, helping provide clean, safe and affordable drinking water to over 500,000 people.  

So Pure, alongside its extensive distribution network of over 500 vendors and agents, has built and launched its waste recovery facility to recycling the sachets of its product and other plastic in the Freetown and country and re-purposes it for their sachet product.  

With Zvilo’s support, So Pure can now move up the value chain and will start producing its own recycled packaging, including sachets and bottles, thanks to recently acquired series of machines.  

At the Africa Resilience Investment Accelerator (ARIA), we are proud to have played our part in supporting this investment. With our partners British International Investment (BII), FMO - the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank and Proparco, we have been working with So Pure to achieve its growth ambitions. ARIA worked with the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) funded Invest Salone programme to connect So Pure with investors and get the company investment ready. It enabled So Pure to access a loan via BII’s risk-sharing facility with Ecobank Sierra Leone, enabling it to complete its factory and launch the plastic recycling facility, paving the way to attract additional investment from Zvilo. 

This partnership between Zvilo and So Pure aligns with Sierra Leone's initiative to bring access to water. Operating under the theme “Securing Water, Enabling Dignity, and Advancing Development,” this 10-year Multiphase Programmatic Approach aims to provide 90% national WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) coverage, reaching 4 million people by 2035. Zvilo’s and So Pure's partnership also supports the Climate Adaptation and Renewable Energy (CARE) for Water, an initiative previously launched by the British International Investment, the UK’s development finance institution. 

Mustapha Hudroge, CEO of So Pure, commented: “So Pure is proud to partner with Zvilo to strengthen our supply chain and scale our operations in delivering clean, affordable drinking water across Sierra Leone. This collaboration enables us to produce our own packaging, enhance efficiency, and expand our impact in underserved communities while aligning with multiple Sustainable Development Goals.”  

Valerie Entsiful, ARIA Country Manager for Sierra Leone, said: “This partnership shows the increasing attention Sierra Leone is drawing from investors and we’re proud to have played our part in enabling it. With backing from Zvilo, So Pure will be able to deliver even greater impact here in Sierra Leone. The transaction demonstrates what ARIA is all about – working with partners to mobilise capital for businesses in frontier markets.”