AquaFlow Africa
Water • Sanitation • Capital

Financing Africa's Water And Sanitation Future.

We bridge the gap between water and sanitation infrastructure projects and the capital needed to build them. Instead of building infrastructure ourselves, we make projects bankable, financeable, and investment-ready.

Explore Our Model → Contact Us
Earth centred on Africa
Capital Flow
Investment-Ready
Bankable Pipeline
Financial Close
Scroll
⬡
Infrastructure Finance
Mobilising capital for water & sanitation assets.
◷
Project Preparation
Turning concepts into fundable projects.
◇
Technical Assistance
Strengthening institutions and pipelines.
⇄
PPP Advisory
Structuring public–private partnerships.
❋
Climate Finance
Unlocking resilient, green water investment.
⬢
Municipal Reform
Building creditworthy utilities.
The Problem

Africa doesn't lack capital.
It lacks bankable projects.

01 · The capital
Development finance exists — in abundance.
$1T+ committed to climate & development finance globally
Capital available94%
02 · The bottleneck
But projects are rarely investment-ready.
~5% of water projects reach bankability
Investment-ready pipeline5%
03 · The funding gap
Preparation funding is scarce and fragmented.
<1% of finance reaches early project preparation
Preparation funding9%
04 · The friction
Transaction costs remain stubbornly high.
18–24mo typical time to reach financial close
Process efficiency28%
05 · The institutions
Public institutions struggle to attract finance.
~90% of utilities lack investment-grade credit
Creditworthy utilities12%
Our Model

How AquaFlow Changes the Equation

Three connected disciplines that manufacture investment-ready water infrastructure — from first idea to financial close.

Water-sector project review meeting
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01
Advisory
Water pipeline under construction
◇
02
Project Development
Water and sanitation training workshop
◆
03
Technical Assistance
Arm 01

Advisory

Making Water and Sanitation Projects Bankable

Progress to Financial Close
Diagnostics
Structuring
Creditworthiness
Transaction
◔
Bankability Diagnostics
Assessing what stands between a project and finance.
⬗
Financial Structuring
Designing capital stacks investors can commit to.
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Creditworthiness Advisory
Raising the credit profile of utilities and sponsors.
⇌
Transaction Advisory
Guiding deals through to financial close.
Arm 02 · Project Development

We manufacture investment-ready infrastructure.

Municipal water treatment · investment-grade assets
STAGE 1
Idea
Origination of the opportunity.
STAGE 2
Feasibility
Technical & commercial viability.
STAGE 3
Structuring
Commercial & risk architecture.
STAGE 4
Packaging
Investor-ready documentation.
STAGE 5
Investment Ready
De-risked & de-bottlenecked.
STAGE 6
Financial Close
Capital committed.
STAGE 7
Asset Ownership
Delivery & long-term value.
Arm 03 · Technical Assistance

Strengthening the ecosystem before financing begins.

⬡
01
Capacity Building
Equipping utilities and agencies to deliver.
§
02
Policy Reform
Shaping enabling regulatory frameworks.
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03
Grant-funded Studies
Early-stage work that de-risks pipelines.
⊞
04
Sector Diagnostics
Mapping where reform unlocks investment.
⬢
05
Institutional Strengthening
Making public institutions bankable partners.
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06
Donor Programme Delivery
Executing development-partner mandates.
Why AquaFlow

A different order of operations.

Traditional Model
Funding waits for projects.
Capital sits idle, waiting
Projects arrive unprepared
Deals stall before close
The AquaFlow Way
Creates investable projects before capital arrives.
Projects prepared in advance
De-risked and structured early
Capital deploys at speed
Impact

Building the pipeline that unlocks capital.

0 +
Municipal Utilities
Engaged across the continent.
0
Water Infrastructure Projects
In active preparation.
0
Climate Finance Mandates
Structured for resilience.
0
PPP Transactions
Advised toward close.
0 +
Project Preparation Studies
Delivered to investment grade.
0 +
Institutional Reforms
Supported for creditworthiness.
Process

From opportunity to financial close.

STEP 1
Identify Opportunity
Source and screen viable projects.
STEP 2
Assess Bankability
Diagnose gaps to finance.
STEP 3
Structure Finance
Design the capital solution.
STEP 4
Prepare Documentation
Build the investor package.
STEP 5
Investor Engagement
Match projects to capital.
STEP 6
Financial Close
Commit and deploy.
Our Team

Leadership

The people building AquaFlow Africa — turning water and sanitation projects into investment-ready opportunities across the continent.

Muhammad A. Yusufari, Chief Business Advisor at AquaFlow Africa
Muhammad A. Yusufari
Chief Business Advisor

Muhammad A. Yusufari is a business and management professional providing advisory services across various sectors, with over 25 years of experience in governance, policy development, social protection, and project planning and coordination.

He has worked in the private sector (Afri-Projects Consortium), the Federal Government (Education for All Initiative and the Millennium Development Goals) and State Government (Yobe State). A consummate professional, he was most recently at the Northeast Governors' Forum for three and a half years, heading the Secretariat as its Director General for two and a half of those years — coordinating the region's developmental progress towards a durable and sustainable integration.

Careers

Opportunity Hub

As AquaFlow Africa grows, we are building the team that will take our pipeline to financial close. Explore our current openings across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Investments & Fund Formation Manager

Senior investment leadership — fund formation and pipeline origination
Apply now →
Location
Abuja, Nigeria · Hybrid
Experience
10+ years
Term
2-year · renewable
Reports to
Founder / CEO
Ref
AFA-FM-2026

Lead the origination, structuring and investment-readiness of AquaFlow's project pipeline, and take a central role in fund formation, DFI engagement and the path to first close. This is a build role for a principal-minded investor, not a portfolio-monitoring role.

View responsibilities & requirements
Key responsibilities
  • ▸Pipeline origination and structuring — source, screen and structure water, sanitation, NRW-reduction and FSM projects; design SPV, PPP and concession structures that survive lender diligence.
  • ▸Bankability assessment — apply the AquaFlow bankability gap-analysis methodology (7 dimensions, 28 criteria, 0–4 maturity scale) and lead remediation to move projects toward financial close.
  • ▸Financial structuring — build and defend project financial models; test IRR, DSCR, tariff and offtaker creditworthiness assumptions; design blended-finance and credit-enhancement packages.
  • ▸Capital raising — support the Executive Chair on fund formation, LPA and carried-interest structuring, DFI and anchor-investor engagement, and due-diligence readiness through first close.
  • ▸Transaction execution — lead technical, legal, ESIA and commercial diligence; negotiate term sheets and manage transaction advisers to close.
  • ▸Governance and risk — prepare investment-committee papers; maintain the risk register and ESG / E&S safeguards to IFC Performance Standards.
Who we are looking for
  • ▸10+ years in infrastructure finance, project finance, PE/infrastructure funds or DFI investment; at least 5 years in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • ▸Demonstrated deal closure — a track record of taking infrastructure transactions from origination to financial close, ideally in water, energy or social infrastructure.
  • ▸Fluency in blended finance, PPP frameworks, SPV structuring, offtaker credit analysis and DFI/MDB processes (IFC, AfDB, FMO, Proparco, DFC and similar).
  • ▸Advanced financial modelling and the ability to hold a room of institutional investors and public counterparties.
  • ▸Postgraduate degree in finance, economics, engineering or a related field; CFA or equivalent an advantage.

Project Preparation Manager

Project preparation, stakeholder engagement and pipeline delivery
Apply now →
Location
Dakar, Senegal · Hybrid
Experience
5–8 years
Term
2-year · renewable
Reports to
Fund Formation Manager
Ref
AFA-PO-2026

Drive day-to-day project preparation across the pipeline: managing feasibility and ESIA workstreams, coordinating consultants and counterparties, and converting early-stage municipal and utility opportunities into investment-ready propositions.

View responsibilities & requirements
Key responsibilities
  • ▸Project preparation — manage pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, ESIA scoping, technical design review and permitting workstreams across multiple projects and jurisdictions.
  • ▸Bankability screening — run first-pass gap analyses against the AquaFlow 7-dimension, 28-criteria framework and maintain the pipeline maturity tracker.
  • ▸Counterparty engagement — build working relationships with municipalities, water utilities, regulators, sector ministries and community stakeholders; support offtaker and tariff discussions.
  • ▸Grant and technical assistance — identify and prepare applications to project-preparation facilities and TA windows; manage reporting and compliance for awarded funding.
  • ▸Analysis and documentation — prepare project information memoranda, concept notes and briefing packs to a DFI-ready standard.
  • ▸Programme management — maintain workplans, budgets, consultant deliverables and the pipeline reporting cycle to the Investment and Fund Formation Manager and Executive Chair.
Who we are looking for
  • ▸5–8 years in WASH, infrastructure development, project preparation or development finance, with substantial Sub-Saharan Africa field exposure.
  • ▸Practical understanding of the water and sanitation value chain — NRW, bulk supply, treatment, sewerage and faecal-sludge management.
  • ▸Experience working with public-sector counterparties, donor-funded programmes or project-preparation facilities.
  • ▸Strong written English and the judgement to produce investor-grade documents with limited supervision; French or Portuguese a distinct advantage.
  • ▸Degree in engineering, environmental science, development economics, public policy or a related field; postgraduate qualification preferred.

Head of Data Intelligence & Technology

Digital infrastructure, data and AI across the investment platform
Apply now →
Location
Abuja, Nigeria · Hybrid
Experience
6–10 years
Term
2-year · renewable
Reports to
Executive Chair
Ref
AFA-TAI-2026

Build AquaFlow's technology and data capability from the ground up: the systems that support pipeline analytics, the AI tooling that accelerates diligence, and the digital water solutions that make our projects more bankable and better operated.

View responsibilities & requirements
Key responsibilities
  • ▸Data and analytics platform — design and run the pipeline, deal and impact data architecture; turn project data into decision-grade dashboards for investment committee and investor reporting.
  • ▸AI applications — deploy AI and machine learning for document-heavy diligence, bankability screening, tariff and demand modelling, and NRW leak-detection and predictive-maintenance analytics.
  • ▸Digital water solutions — assess and structure smart metering, SCADA, IoT sensing and remote-monitoring components within candidate projects, and quantify their effect on revenue assurance and bankability.
  • ▸Impact measurement — build the MRV and ESG data systems that evidence WASH outcomes to DFI and blended-finance standards.
  • ▸Systems and security — own the firm's core stack, data governance, cyber hygiene and data-protection compliance across operating jurisdictions.
  • ▸Technology diligence — act as internal reviewer on the technology components of investment proposals, including vendor assessment and lifecycle cost.
Who we are looking for
  • ▸6–10 years in data engineering, applied AI/ML, or technology leadership, ideally with exposure to infrastructure, utilities or financial services.
  • ▸Demonstrated delivery of production data and AI systems — not only pilots — with clear evidence of business impact.
  • ▸Working knowledge of utility operational technology (SCADA, telemetry, smart metering, GIS) or a proven ability to acquire it quickly.
  • ▸Commercial literacy — able to translate technical capability into bankability, revenue assurance and investor-facing narrative.
  • ▸Degree in computer science, data science, engineering or a related field; strong Python/SQL and modern cloud data tooling.

Send a CV (max 3 pages) and a one-page cover letter to info@aquaflowafrica.org, using each role's reference in the subject line. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled; remuneration is competitive. AquaFlow Africa is an equal-opportunity employer and actively encourages applications from women and from nationals of the markets in which we invest.

Let's Finance Africa's Water and Sanitation Future Together.

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