To reach the goal of abolishing open defecation by 2025, Nigeria would reportedly need to construct at least 3.9 million toilets per year, according to UNICEF.
This was said on Monday at the start of a two-day Maiden Toilet Business Owners Conference in Abuja by Jane Bevan, UNICEF’s Head of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
According to Ms. Bevan, the nation now builds between 180,000 and 200,000 toilets each year, which she deemed insufficient.
She said the seminar was necessary because Nigerian toilet company entrepreneurs were crucial to solving the problems of open defecation.
She claims that to change things, there must be more demand for restrooms. The country’s sanitation markets might benefit greatly from the support of the private sector.
Using data from the 2021 WASH National Outcome Routine Mapping, Ms. Bevan said that 48 million people in Nigeria practise open defecation, while 95 million do not have access to even the most basic sanitation facilities.
Poor access to sanitation has an annual cost to production, health, and savings on the medical care of around 1.3% of GDP, or N455 billion.
“Economic advantages from investing in water and sanitation range from $3 to $34 for every dollar spent.
“Nigeria must change its current course to meet its goals for 2025 and 2030. It is necessary to improve and expand tried-and-true tactics to accomplish the nation’s aims.
In order to actively develop sustainable solutions to meet the sanitation requirements of underserved and unserved areas and support the growth of capital investment and human capital, the private sector must collaborate closely with all levels of government and communities.
Didi Walson-Jack, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources’ permanent secretary, expressed hope that toilet business owners (TBOs) will support the government’s efforts to abolish open defecation in Nigeria.
She said that as long as we are willing to look outside the box, Nigeria is open for business, and the market is large enough for speedier and greater returns on investment.
The permanent secretary highlighted that the conference’s results will support other ongoing efforts in reaching the national and international objectives for the subsector of water, sanitation, and hygiene.
TBOs are a subset of MSMEs, which are small, medium-sized businesses that will contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s success.
This is especially remarkable in Nigeria, where the National Bureau of Statistics estimates that during the last five years, SMEs have contributed almost 48% of the country’s GDP (NBS).
In addition, 57.7 million individuals, or 84.02 per cent of the workforce, were employed by SMEs in Nigeria in 2016, which made up 96% of all enterprises there.
This conference will provide the attendees with a greater understanding of the potential of these businesses for the sanitation sector, given the amount of SME engagement in the economy.
Previously, Chukwuma Nnana, Executive Director of the ToiletPride Initiative, said that one of the main obstacles to achieving an environment free of open defecation was the absence of an atmosphere that would allow these sanitation enterprises to prosper.
TBOs and sanitation entrepreneurs, according to Mr Nnana, also the conference’s organiser, have yet to be fully mobilised.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the conference’s purpose was to highlight and raise awareness of private sanitation businesses’ role in expanding the provision of sanitation services in Nigeria.
