As the 2022 World Toilet Summit comes to an end in Abuja, Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari and other stakeholders have emphasised the need for the private sector to take advantage of the economic opportunities of the sanitation sector.
President Buhari, while declaring the World Toilet Summit 2022 edition with theme, ‘Sustaining Sanitation Innovation for Economic Development’ open on Friday called for private sector collaboration and intervention to eradicate open defecation in 2025.
Buhari who was represented by Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, said the mission to ensure over 200 million Nigerians have access to decent and affordable toilet facilities could be achieved if there is that synergy between the public and private sectors.
He said: “Governments must acknowledge its role in providing the leadership to rally all other stakeholders to contribute to improve and sustain access to sanitation services.
The government should also be promoting innovative and scalable approaches towards strengthening systems for accelerated progress, he added.
“A coordination platform for private sector organisations working in the wash sector, known as the organised private sector in wash was also established to ensure effective coordination of the public and private sector interventions.”
In a joint presentation, Heather Moran, UNICEF, New York and Michael Adegbe, Leader, Nigeria SATO, said the Nigerian Sanitation economy market potential by 2030 will be worth $26.1 billion.
Adegbe said the ‘Make A Slash’ a partnership project between SATO and UNICEF is aimed atcreating business solutions to drive the creation of a smart sanitation economy by partnering to develop consumer driven business solutions to help governments deliver universal access to sanitation while supporting governments to enable the growth of the private sector and sanitation economy.
“We are strengthening markets that provide products and services that enable safely managed sanitation for all contexts and incomes. Also building innovative financial instruments that can activate national sanitation economies and improve lives,” he said.
He therefore called for development of policy briefs to influence policy around tax exemption and financial institution engagement with loan products launched the National Protocol on subsidies for sanitation.
The World Toilet Summit is aimed at facilitating knowledge sharing and policy engagement on sanitation to develop and strengthen inter-sectoral and cross-sectoral linkages for improved and sustainable sanitation service delivery.
The Summit was jointly organised by the Government of Nigeria, the Organised Private Sector Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (OPSWASH) and the World Toilet Organisation (WTO).
Participants at the summit include high level decision makers, traditional and non-traditional sector investors, and other stakeholders from across the world.
WTO’s objective of improving sanitation conditions worldwide, the 2022 World Toilet Summit is geared toward developing the opportunities in the circular sanitation economy and the enabling environment needed to maximise it.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Water Resources, Engr Suleiman Adamu, presented National Open Defecation Free Award to 19 states while Jigawa State was handed over a trophy for being first State in Nigeria to emerge and Open Defecation Free State in Nigeria.
Also, the Founder of WTO, Jack Sim, presented Special Awards to President Muhammadu Buhari, Deputy Secretary General, United Nations, Amina Mohammed, Governor of Jigawa State, Badaru Abubakar, Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu, and others for their contribution to ending open defecation.
Speaking after receiving an award for his state from the Federal Government, through the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, the Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru, assured the United Nations and the World Toilet Organisation that the state would sustain the status.
“As difficult as it is to attain this status, it is more difficult to sustain it. But I want to assure the World Toilet Organisation and other stakeholders that we will sustain this status,” he stated.
In her opening remarks on Friday, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Didi Esther Walson-Jack, stated that the Summit is geared towards bringing to the fore the opportunities in the circular sanitation economy and the enabling environment needed to maximise it.
She further revealed that the Federal Government of Nigeria is driving the national campaign to end Open Defecation by 2025 through the Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet Campaign.