How a Hybrid Social Enterprise Brings Affordable, Safe Water to Millions in Sub-Saharan Africa

Jibu’s trademarks and patents provide the base for African entrepreneurs bringing clean water to millions of people.

When Jibu's founders looked at the development landscape in sub-Saharan Africa, they were concerned at the number of life-saving projects whose finances relied on overseas charitable funding that could dry up over the years.

At the same time, they also saw a potential market for the provision of clean water - UN Water estimated in 2018 that only 27 percent of the population in sub-Saharan African had access to a safely managed drinking water service.

So, targeting real local sustainability, the business model Randy Welsch and his son Galen proposed in 2012 for a clean-water venture provided true ownership to African franchise owners, banking on the importance of entrepreneurship to provide a strong incentive and a solid intellectual property strategy. Jibu, which means “solution” in Swahili now has a network of over a hundred franchisees and over 2,000 points of sale in seven sub-Saharan Africa.

“Jibu has been the most fun and rewarding thing I have done in my career, and also the hardest,” said Randy Welsch.

The issue Jibu is addressing is acute: In many urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa, water is available and filtered at the source, but may not be potable at delivery points after passing through an aging network of pumping stations and pipes with unnoticed cracks.

The company's franchises use available water in cities and treat, package, and sell the product at the shopfront. When the franchised store does not have direct access to water, the company works with city governments to extend piping to the store. The city can subsequently branch out from Jibu’s pipe to get water to other places, resulting in a mutually beneficial solution.

The water is filtered directly at the point of sale and sold in Jibu’s patented heavy-duty plastic bottles, which can be reused hundreds of times. Because the company does not need large plants, middlemen, or delivery trucks - transportation is known to double the price of water in Africa - Jibu can keep the price 3 or 4 times cheaper than other bottled water brands, to about US$1 for 20 liters, the company says.

Jibu’s franchisees are disseminated across Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia under an exclusive license to open and operate small Jibu storefronts, with a twist that benefits Jibu's small business owners.

“We flipped the franchise model on its head," said Welsch. “We invest about 95 percent upfront and the franchisee invests about 5 percent.” Franchisees are usually profitable within about six months, which allows them to reimburse for the upfront investment (the license), usually borrowed from family and friends. The license fee is lower in low-income countries.

Jibu now has about 150 franchisees, 500 dedicated outlets with 4,000 points of sale, serving some 800,000 daily consumers. 

Defined by its founders as a hybrid social enterprise, Jibu is both a charitable and a for-profit business. As such, the company developed Intellectual property assets, like patents and a trademark, which need to be actively protected for the sake of franchisees and investors. The trademark, in particular, was a cornerstone of the strategy, providing the indispensable tool to grow consumers’ confidence in the safety of Jibu’s water, and promote franchise owners.

One of Jibu’s intellectual assets is the water bottle. It was designed by a plastic chemist and it took some tweaking to achieve the final result. Looking at the market in the target countries, Jibu realized that many people could not buy water in large quantities. So the bottle had to hold a substantial amount of water, but it also needed a tap and the ability to be flipped over: In short, a multi-purpose bottle, durable, that could be used hundreds of times. The bottle was patented, and the design of the bottle was protected.

Jibu's highly visible and understandable trademark in a trading language used in many parts of East Africa is registered in many countries.

Jibu’s franchised stores also sell fortified porridge and clean LP gas and Jibu is also looking at other essential services that could be provided following its social franchising model, such as vitamin and flavored water, ice, and large batteries, which could power small appliances and could serve in areas where there is no electricity.