CEM REPORT, SERVICES | An immediate gain and a sharp reduction in unemployment amongst affordable services to the poor will be bestowed if Nigeria develops its sanitation economy.
According to United Nations Executive Director of the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF), Dominic O’Neill, developing the sanitation economy will have multiple effects on the country’s growth, insisting that a clean environment will enhance productivity and prevent diseases.
Speaking at the sidelines of activities to mark World Toilet Day, in Abuja, he noted that Nigeria’s sanitation potential stands at about $15 million.
He stated that figures from the Toilet Board Coalition (TBC) show that the sanitation economy is untapped and that if developed, the benefits would not be enormous to the growth of Nigeria’s economy, adding that TBC facilitates vital partnerships between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), corporates, NGOs, investors and governments, who share a commitment to achieve access to sanitation and hygiene for all by 2030.
He noted: “What is important is the sanitation economy. We don’t want it just for profit. What we want is to ensure that the private sector provides intervention to the most marginalised, most vulnerable, and those that could not afford much.”
