Iriba Water Group
VP Grantee

Iriba Water Group is a Rwandan-based social enterprise that provides clean and affordable water to communities, institutions, and homes in Rwanda and Goma (East Congo). Iriba was created in 2016 by Yvette Ishimwe, a young Rwandan changemaker during her last year in high school and started as a self-funded social enterprise that later received multiple grants.

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Iriba installs eco-friendly water ATMs and kiosks in urban and peri-urban marginalized communities and schools to enable low-income individuals to access clean water. Consumers use reusable water bottles and cups to avoid disposable plastic bottles and bags, helping communities address environmental issues of plastic pollution.

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Through their water purification and distribution models, Iriba has reached hundreds of thousands of people, establishing Tap & Drink ATMs in schools, communities, and homes, and created dozens of jobs. Iriba's goal is to become a global leader in providing innovative and sustainable solutions for addressing the scarcity of affordable, clean, and safe drinking water in communities in need.

 

During the first year of the VP Grant, Iriba invested in digitizing their entire operation. This meant it could receive real-time data from all their franchisees about their sales and current stocks. This investment allowed them to reduce inefficiencies which has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings for Iriba from previous years. Iriba is currently working on expanding it's operations to other African countries.