Sanitation and Wastewater Atlas of Africa

The African Development Bank (AfDB), the UN Environment Programme and GRID-Arendal have released the inaugural Sanitation and Wastewater Atlas of Africa – a tool to benchmark and measure Africa’s progress towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on safe sanitation and wastewater management.

With the aim to help policymakers accelerate change and investment in the sector, the Atlas incorporates maps, graphics and profiles of all African countries, including analyses of their water resources and the provision of basic services. It also explores the links between sanitation, wastewater, ecosystem health and human health, and discusses frameworks and circular economy approaches that can lead to better infrastructure and systems.

“Africa cannot have a healthy society without adequate access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene,” said Wambui Gichuri, acting vice president: Agriculture, Human and Social Development at the AfDB.

“In the past 10 years, the AfDB has invested more than US$6 billion (R90.5 billion) in sanitation and hygiene improvements, but much more financing is needed from the private sector, development finance institutions, governments and other sources. The new Sanitation and Wastewater Atlas of Africa can inform strategic investment going forward.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has sharpened an already existing need to upgrade Africa’s water and sanitation infrastructure. The report’s authors urge African governments to incorporate sanitation and wastewater programmes into their post-Covid-19 strategic planning.

Findings

The baseline metrics available for Africa with respect to progress on SDG 6 indicate that there is still an enormous amount of work and resources that must be invested for Africa to achieve the set targets.

With a young and growing population, the effects of missing these targets would be catastrophic for the continent, including damage to its natural environment and ecosystems. The failure to roll out safely managed sanitation systems would lead to an unchecked increase in the amount of untreated wastewater released into the natural environment, hugely increasing disease risks.

As a water-poor region, Africa must embrace opportunities for innovation in not only economic development, but also in the way services such as sanitation and safe drinking water are delivered. The continent must invest in the necessary policies, infrastructure and human skills capacities to operationalise actions towards the achievement of goals and targets in the 2030 Agenda, including those for sustainable sanitation and wastewater management.

INTERESTING INSIGHTS FROM THE ATLAS

• Africa’s 29.65 million km2 of land area is home to over 1.3 billion people, with this population expected to reach 1.7 billion by 2030. Almost 60% of the continent’s population lives in rural areas, where sanitation services and access to safe drinking water lag behind those offered in urban areas. • Our continent is the second driest in the world after Australia, with only 9% of global renewable water resources. • Groundwater represents only 15% of the continent’s total renewable water resources. • More than 30 of the world’s 48 least developed countries are in Africa. • While 90% of North Africa’s population has access to improved sanitation facilities, sub-Saharan Africa has startlingly low coverage, at 30%. • Less than 20% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa is connected to a sewerage network, which is mainly found in high-income, urban areas.