Opinion: For all the talk of innovative advances such as AI, the basics still matter — and improving sanitation is an untapped opportunity to empower and grow Africa’s economy that can be realized today.
While daily headlines tend to focus on Africa’s problems, there are many reasons why this is a time to feel optimistic about the continent’s future. The rapid adoption and rollout of accessible technology, fueled by the continent’s growing middle class, is creating new opportunities for individuals to prosper.
Take artificial intelligence and automation as an example. It’s estimated that AI could boost Africa’s economy by $2.9 trillion by 2030 — the equivalent of increasing gross domestic product by 3%. This is expected to have immense positive impacts on the cost of health care, agricultural crop yields, and manufacturing efficiencies.
While the prospect of an AI and automated future is grandiose, what if Africa’s next economic catalyst was far simpler? When it comes to health and prosperity, so much starts with and comes back to the humble toilet. Improving sanitation is an untapped opportunity to empower and grow Africa’s economy that can be realized today.
In recent years, Africa has had some positive sanitation and hygiene momentum. However, the potential impact from a step change in sanitation and hygiene could be extraordinary in terms of health, social, and economic outcomes. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that every dollar invested in sanitation provides a return on investment for society of $5.50 due to lower health costs, more productivity, and fewer premature deaths.
In Nigeria, for instance, 53% of the population — or more than 116 million people — live without access to basic sanitation, according to WHO/UNICEF’s joint monitoring program. In addition, 18% of that cohort — or more than 40 million people — practice open defecation. By increasing access to sanitation by just 1% in Nigeria, 2.3 million people would have brighter futures; children would live with a greater level of safety, knowing they wouldn’t have to travel in the night to use the toilet; schoolgirls would be less absent during their menstrual period supporting better educational outcomes; and individuals would have more dignity.
But it’s so much more than that.
Tanzania is a nation that has made great sanitation progress and has previously declared ambitious targets to become open defecation-free by 2025, before aiming for all to have access to safely managed sanitation by 2030. Meeting its safely managed sanitation target will require the installation of nearly 10 million latrines and the employment of at least 2,300 masons to install them over the next five and a half years. When you also consider the additional roles within the sanitation supply chain and those responsible for post-purchase services such as pit emptying, you can quickly see the creation of tens of thousands of jobs in Tanzania alone.
Tanzania is one of 14 countries in Africa with sanitation targets. Many start with the most pressing need — achieving open defecation-free status — but look beyond that. However, the impact of eradicating open defecation across Africa would be monumental. Collectively, meeting the open defecation-free targets in these countries — from Madagascar to Mali — is likely to impact the lives of approximately 219 million people. Across the continent, this would require hundreds of thousands of jobs. It would be an even greater number to move everyone to safely managed sanitation.
In the sanitation economy, which creates these jobs, female entrepreneurs have a key role, advancing gender equality, cutting poverty, and encouraging inclusive economic growth. More than half of working women in low- and middle-income countries see entrepreneurship as a route to economic empowerment. As the United Nations’ Sanitation and Hygiene Fund said, “When women work, economies grow.”
Improved access to sanitation and hygiene would not only create a seismic economic impact through job creation, but also through improved health and productivity. Poor sanitation and related problems cost Africa as much as 0.9% of its GDP and is a contributing cause of diarrhoea, which kills more than 900 children each day across the continent.
The time to realize the opportunity is now. At LIXIL, we have designed affordable, durable, and water-saving products that work “off grid,” sealing open pit latrines and creating fresher, cleaner, and safer toilet experiences.
This approach has been highly successful. Globally, we have improved the lives of approximately 82 million people through our sanitation and hygiene solutions. In Africa, we’ve effectively combined with our partners to address the barriers to individuals investing in sanitation and hygiene, from microfinance to rural availability, to great effect.
Now, we are playing a central role at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD 9. As a nation, Japan believes in creating a prosperous Africa. Reflecting this, we are continuing to invest in strengthening the sanitation ecosystem by forging manufacturing partnerships with organizations across Africa, deepening our connections with local NGOs to drive last-mile reach, supporting training programs that create jobs for masons to retailers, and focusing on growing a market-based sanitation economy.
Japan is known for its world-famous toilets. I am incredibly proud of how advanced our $5,000 toilets are and the innovation journey that we’ve been on. But I am even more proud of the impact SATO, a $5 toilet, is having across Africa. There is still a lot more to do, and a wealth of impact that we can create, but it is not a challenge that we can tackle solo. It requires the mobilization of all parties. And co-operation and collaboration is a great strength. But by focusing on tackling the very real challenges of sanitation and hygiene, we believe we can be even more optimistic about the health and wealth of the Africa of tomorrow.
This article first appeared on Devex and is republished here with permission. The views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial views of TEL.
