Across the globe, the sanitation challenge continues to plague billions despite decades of international commitments and development efforts. Sanitation, one of humanity’s most fundamental needs, remains inaccessible to nearly half of the world’s population. Since 2000, 2.5 billion people have gained access to safely managed sanitation services—a significant achievement. However, by 2022, 3.5 billion people still lacked safely managed services, and among them, approximately 1.9 billion only had basic access. Of the 1.5 billion without even basic services, 570 million shared improved sanitation facilities with other households, 545 million used unimproved facilities, and 419 million continued to practice open defecation. The disparities are glaring: nine out of ten people who still defecate in the open live in rural areas, with more than half located in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia.
Despite gains in universal coverage in 59 countries—nine of which have achieved full access to safely managed services—55 countries still have less than half their population covered. The uneven progress points to a global sanitation economy defined by extremes. On one end are high-income nations with advanced infrastructure; on the other, vast populations in developing regions remain entrenched in preventable cycles of disease, poverty, and indignity.
This is the gap the sanitation economy seeks to bridge. As a critical subset of global development, the sanitation economy, encompassing circular and smart systems, is increasingly viewed not only as a basic need but as a sector with transformative economic potential. In five African countries alone—Benin, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Uganda—the sanitation economy could unlock up to $19 billion in value by 2030 through job creation, innovation, gender empowerment, and environmental sustainability, according to the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund’s 2022 report From Human Waste to Prosperity.
Africa’s sanitation challenge is not just an infrastructure problem; it is a deeply human crisis. Over 715 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa currently lack access to basic sanitation, according to UNICEF. Of these, more than 250 million are still forced to practice open defecation. The consequences are dire. Diarrhoeal diseases, often linked to poor sanitation and hygiene, remain a leading cause of death for children under five across the continent. The lack of clean, safe, and private toilets in schools contributes to poor academic performance, particularly among girls. In urban slums, where overcrowding is high and infrastructure is weak, sanitation failures also compound environmental degradation and public health emergencies.
Achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6.2, which calls for equitable access to adequate sanitation and hygiene for all, requires unprecedented effort. According to the World Health Organisation, Africa would need to accelerate progress on safely managed sanitation services by a factor of twenty and increase the rate of progress on basic hygiene services by forty-two times to meet the 2030 deadline. Business-as-usual approaches are insufficient. What is required is a market-based model that views human waste not as a burden, but as a resource.
Turning Waste into Wealth
Amidst this daunting crisis lies an overlooked opportunity. Human waste, once stigmatised, is now being recognised for its potential to fuel economies. The circular sanitation economy, focused on the treatment, transformation, and reuse of human waste, is changing the equation. In cities like Kampala, Uganda, the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) runs a faecal sludge treatment facility that converts human waste into clean-burning briquettes. These briquettes serve as an alternative to wood charcoal, helping to reduce deforestation and provide affordable energy to local communities.
In Kenya, Sanivation collects waste from households and institutions, treating it and converting it into biomass fuel and fertiliser. Their system addresses the sanitation gap and offers an environmental benefit by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These initiatives reveal a clear truth: when designed properly, sanitation can generate products with market value, create jobs, and contribute to climate resilience.
The World Bank’s Waste to Resource framework supports these efforts by promoting the valorisation of waste. With African cities producing over 180 million tonnes of waste annually, most of it unmanaged, there is vast potential to transform sanitation into a driver of urban circular economies. These models are not abstract concepts; they are being implemented in real communities, solving real problems.
When Technology Meets Necessity
Another arm of the sanitation economy gaining momentum is the smart sanitation economy, which uses data and technology to enhance the efficiency, accessibility, and safety of sanitation systems. In Madagascar, the social enterprise Loowatt has introduced sealed, waterless toilets that collect waste into cartridges for off-site treatment. The system is integrated with sensors and mobile applications that track usage and alert operators when services are needed.
In Rwanda, Pivot is operating a model where waste is converted into solid industrial fuel, feeding manufacturing facilities and reducing reliance on coal. These smart systems not only optimise operations but also provide valuable data on user behaviour and public health. When sanitation systems are digitised, governments and businesses can plan more effectively, allocate resources accurately, and respond quickly to outbreaks or shortages.
These innovations are driven by a shift in thinking: toilets are no longer just static infrastructure but dynamic platforms for health, data, and commerce. They represent a modern, scalable, and adaptable approach to what was once considered an intractable problem.
Women and the Sanitation Economy
Sanitation is not gender-neutral. The absence of safe toilets has disproportionate effects on women and girls, particularly in informal settlements, rural areas, and schools. Lack of facilities during menstruation forces many girls to miss school days or drop out entirely. In urban areas, the absence of lighting and locks on public toilets increases vulnerability to assault.
However, when women are included in the design, delivery, and governance of sanitation services, outcomes improve dramatically. In Sierra Leone, women-run public toilet businesses supported by microloans have shown exceptional repayment rates and strong community support. The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund is prioritising such models by linking gender-responsive investment to national targets.
By employing women as toilet managers, hygiene educators, and sanitation entrepreneurs, these programs are turning a basic service into a platform for financial independence and community leadership. Toilets, it turns out, can unlock more than dignity; they can unlock livelihoods.
The Governance Gap
Despite promising pilot projects and innovative startups, the greatest challenge remains political will and sustained investment. Sanitation receives a disproportionately small share of national budgets in Africa. In most countries, less than 0.5% of total government expenditure is allocated to sanitation, according to the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW). Without strong national frameworks, clear standards, and long-term financing mechanisms, many sanitation initiatives risk remaining fragmented and unsustainable.
The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund, working under the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), is addressing this by developing country-specific investment frameworks. These frameworks aim to support governments in attracting private capital, integrating sanitation into urban development plans, and ensuring that innovations reach scale. The goal is to move from donor dependency to a sustainable ecosystem where sanitation is integrated into national economic planning.
Rethinking the Economics
Traditional models have long viewed sanitation as a social cost, necessary but non-remunerative. But new data is challenging that notion. The Toilet Board Coalition estimates that innovative approaches can reduce the cost of sanitation from $200 per person to a net value of $6 per person. By capturing the value of waste, using digital systems, and involving local enterprises, the sanitation sector can become financially self-sustaining.
Moreover, the World Health Organisation reports that for every dollar invested in sanitation, there is a return of $5.50 in economic productivity, reduced healthcare costs, and averted premature deaths. These are not hypothetical numbers. They are backed by real-world cases where improved sanitation has led to healthier populations, higher school attendance, better gender outcomes, and thriving local businesses.
Anchoring in Global Frameworks
Globally, the sanitation economy aligns with key international development agendas. It supports Sustainable Development Goal 6.2 while contributing to other interconnected goals such as health (SDG 3), gender equality (SDG 5), economic growth (SDG 8), and climate action (SDG 13). The sanitation economy also links directly to the Paris Agreement, especially in the context of methane reduction, given that poorly managed human waste contributes to 2 to 6% of global methane emissions and 1 to 3% of nitrous oxide emissions.
The World Bank’s Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) framework and UN-Habitat’s New Urban Agenda both encourage inclusive, equitable sanitation planning. These frameworks provide a solid foundation for African countries to structure their policies and investments in ways that align with global financing, technology partnerships, and knowledge transfer.
Africa’s sanitation crisis is one of the continent’s most urgent but solvable problems. The solution does not lie only in infrastructure but in rethinking the entire sanitation value chain—from waste collection to waste transformation, from manual labour to smart systems, and from exclusion to empowerment. The toilet economy is not a side story in Africa’s development journey; it is a central pillar for achieving health, dignity, and prosperity for all.
If Africa is serious about sustainable development, it must be bold enough to invest in what lies beneath. With the right mix of political will, private capital, grassroots innovation, and global collaboration, the continent can transform its sanitation crisis into a model of circular, inclusive, and resilient growth.
Human waste is no longer just a public health burden; it is one of the greatest untapped resources of our time. And in Africa, where the need is greatest, the opportunity is equally vast.
