BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE
 |
| Yahna Dinwur and a boy washing their hands in front of the latrine at the local primary school, Warok, Plateau State, Nigeria, January 2006. Credit:WaterAid/ Suzanne Porter |
Africa alone is home to over 572 million (equivalent
to about four times Nigeria’s population) of the world’s 2.6 billion people
without access to proper sanitation, a new report has suggested.
The figure, a compilation of the number of people in
36 off-track African countries listed as not having access to proper sanitation
by 2010, according to the report, means that over half of Africa’s estimated
one billion population from 53 countries, do not have access to appropriate
sanitation.
The report, “Saving Lives”, which was launched by
WaterAid, an international aid organisation last week as the prelude to a high
level meeting on sanitation on water in Washington D.C., puts the total figure
of Africa’s population in need of proper sanitation, at 572,091,000.
Furthermore, the total estimated population of the
36 countries is 784,565,246, meaning only about 212,474,246 have access to
adequate and proper sanitation.
Topping the list of countries with large populations
without access to basic dignifying sanitation is Nigeria, with 109,312,000 of
its 154,729,000 population without access and thus only 45,417,000 having
access.
Following on the heels of Nigeria is Ethiopia, with 65,530,000
of her population of 85,237,338 without proper sanitation, then DR Congo, which
has 50,134,000 out of its 63,655,000 population being without the required
sanitation access as at 2010.
Ghana’s situation is also very intriguing, as out of
a total population of 23 million, the report indicates that 20,977,000 people
were without proper sanitation by 2010, which means only 2,023,000 (two
million) people have access to improved sanitation in the country.
Although the report does not state why the other African
countries are not included, it has been gathered that a country like Liberia is
missing because records are not available.
The entire list of off-track African countries in
WaterAid’s report is as follows:
PEOPLE WITHOUT SANITATION IN 2010
|
TOTAL POPULATION AS AT 2011
|
|
1.
Benin
|
7,699,000
|
8,439,000
|
2.
Botswana
|
763,000
|
1,839,833
|
3.
Burkina Faso
|
13,669,000
|
13,228,000
|
4.
Burundi
|
4,527,000
|
7,548,000
|
5.
Cameroon
|
9,995,000
|
17,795,000
|
6.
CAR
|
2,905,000
|
4,216,666
|
7.
Chad
|
9,768,000
|
10,146,000
|
8.
Comoros
|
470,000
|
798,000
|
9.
Cote d’Ivoire
|
15,001,000
|
17,654,843
|
10.
DR Congo
|
50,134,000
|
63,655,000
|
11.
Djibouti
|
444,000
|
496,374
|
12.
Ethiopia
|
65,530,000
|
85,237,338
|
13.
Ghana
|
20,977,000
|
23,000,000
|
14.
Guinea
|
8,185,000
|
9,402,000
|
15.
Kenya
|
27,549,000
|
34,707,817
|
16.
Madagascar
|
17,607,000
|
18,606,000
|
17.
Malawi
|
7,301,000
|
12,884,000
|
18.
Mali
|
11,988,000
|
13,518,000
|
19.
Mauritania
|
2,560,000
|
3,069,000
|
20.
Mauritius
|
143,000
|
1,219,220
|
21.
Morocco
|
9,585,000
|
33,757,175
|
22.
Mozambique
|
19,180,000
|
20,366,795
|
23.
Namibia
|
1,553,000
|
2,031,000
|
24.
Niger
|
14,116,000
|
13,957,000
|
25.
Nigeria
|
109,312,000
|
154,729,000
|
26.
Rwanda
|
4,781,000
|
7,600,000
|
27.
Senegal
|
5,968,000
|
11,658,000
|
28.
Sierra Leone
|
5,105,000
|
6,144,562
|
29.
South Africa
|
10,528,000
|
47,432,000
|
30.
Sudan
|
32,228,000
|
39,154,490
|
31.
Swaziland
|
510,000
|
1,032,000
|
32.
Tanzania
|
40,357,000
|
37,849,133
|
33.
Togo
|
5,244,000
|
6,100,000
|
34.
Uganda
|
22,060,000
|
27,616,000
|
35.
Zambia
|
6,806,000
|
14,668,000
|
36.
Zimbabwe
|
7,543,000
|
13,010,000
|
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