Sibongile Ndaba Luwabelwa

Sibongile Ndaba Luwabelwa brings over nine years of relevant experience in areas ranging from project management to monitoring and evaluation, teaching and research, private sector engagement, business modeling, marketing, and finance.

At RTI, she serves as the Private Sector Engagement Lead under the USAID Expanding Water and Sanitation Project providing direction and leadership on the private sector engagement (PSE) component of the project. In this role, she oversees designing and implementing the project’s private sector engagement strategy as the overarching framework for increasing private sector resources, expertise, and collaboration in Zambia’s WASH sector and within the four project implementation provinces.

She led the WASH market assessment which will inform the creation of a platform for public-private dialogue and manages and oversees all subcontracts and grants with local partners under the PSE strategy. In addition, she serves as the main point of contact for private sector partners, commercial water utilities, the National Water and Sanitation Council (NWASCO), municipal governments, and the Government of Zambia on strategies to improve private sector involvement and participation in water service, sanitation service, and hygiene product delivery.

Previously, she served as a business development lead at WSUP (Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor) and was a member of the senior management team. Her responsibilities included overseeing sanitation and water projects in Peri-Urban Areas in Lusaka, Zambia. She also played a pivotal role in enhancing the viability of fecal sludge management (FSM) as a business and created avenues for scale-up. She was also a deputy team leader for the development of an FSM business model under the Lusaka Sanitation Programme, a World Bank, Africa Development Bank, KfW and European Investment Bank funded  project.

Ms. Luwabelwa has experience supporting small, medium, and large private sector players in strengthening their ability to reach low-income customers with safe water and sanitation services. Trained as a Development Economist, she is also proficient in monitoring market challenges and their impact on small businesses.