The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that Nigeria is expected to build 3.9 million toilets annually to attain the open defecation-free target by 2025.
UNICEF Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Dr Jane Bevan disclosed this on Tuesday at a two-day Maiden Toilet Business Owners Conference in Abuja.
News Rider reports that the conference was designed to showcase and create awareness on the contributions of private enterprises in scaling up sanitation service delivery in Nigeria.
Bevan pointed out that the current construction of toilets in Nigeria stood between 180,000 – 200,000 annually, describing it as inadequate.
She hinted that the conference was timely as toilet business owners are key to ending open defecation challenges in Nigeria.
While harping on the need to create demands for toilets, she stated that the private sector could play huge roles in sustaining and strengthening sanitation markets in the country.
Quoting the 2021 WASH National Outcome Routine Mapping on Nigeria’s sanitation status, the chief of WASH informed that 48 million people practice open defecation, while 95 million lacked access to basic sanitation services.
“About 1.3 per cent of GDP or N455 billion is lost annually due to poor access to sanitation, health, health care savings and productivity.
“Every dollar invested in water and sanitation, results in economic benefits ranging from 3 dollars to 34 dollars", she added.
Bevan noted that Nigeria cannot continue with the current pattern of toilet construction, else the country would fail to attain the 2025 and 2030 target, advocating the need to strengthen and scale up proven strategies to reach the goals.
She suggested that the private sector must work closely with all tiers of government and communities to create sustainable solutions in addressing the sanitation needs of unserved and underserved communities and assist in growing investment and human capital.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Dr Didi Walson-Jack was optimistic that Toilet Business Owners (TBOs) would complement government’s effort towards ending open defecation in Nigeria.
She said that Nigeria is ready for business and the market is expansive for quicker and bigger returns on investment as long as participants are prepared to think outside the box.
The permanent secretary stated that the outcome of the conference would reinforce other existing initiatives in achieving the national and global goals for water, sanitation and hygiene sub-sector.
Walson-Jack informed that TBOs are part of the Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) that would help in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“This is particularly noteworthy in Nigeria where the SMEs have contributed approximately 48 per cent to the national GDP over the last five years as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“Moreover, the SMEs in Nigeria accounted for 96 per cent of all businesses in the country and employed 57.7 million people, representing 84.02 per cent of the workforce in 2016," she added.
The Executive Director of Toiletpride Initiative, Mr Chukwuma Nnanna lamented that one of the biggest challenges in achieving open defecation-free environment is the absence of enabling environment for sanitation businesses to flourish.
Nnana, who is also the convener of the conference, noted that TBOs and sanitation entrepreneurs are yet to be mobilised to attain their full potential.
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