20 The Future of Water in African Cities
Table 1.2 Urban Population with Access to Water Supply and Sanitation 2000 and 2010 (in thousands) Population
Year 2000 2010
Drinking water Urban National Urban National improved improved # # # % # % 217,803 668,379 179,482 82 367,661 55 318,383 855,477 263,195 83 524,264 61
Sanitation facilities Urban National improved improved # % # % 92,917 43 185,808 28 135,402 43 261,505 31
Source: WHO/UNICEF, 2012.
cent, so that the proportion of urban dwellers with access to water and sanitation services remained static. Rapid urban growth is occurring throughout the continent, but access to water varies from country to country. In Uganda, the proportion of the urban population with access to improved water sources increased from 78 percent (1.5 million people) in 1990 to 91 percent (3.7 million) in 2008. During the same time period, in Nigeria access to water in urban areas fell from 79 percent (27 million) to 75 percent (55 million). Both countries managed to double the number of people with access to safe water, but in Nigeria the expansion could not keep up with population growth (WHO/UNICEF, 2012). Utilities operate aging infrastructure aimed at supplying the city as it once was. About two-thirds of Africa’s urban population is served by water utilities (AICD, 2011). Adequate funding is not available to utilities for expansion or renewal of aging infrastructure in African cities; compared to the rest of the world, the sector is underfunded (see Table 1.3).1 Naturally, capital expenditures vary with incomes, but most of the utilities in our sample spend 10 times less on infrastructure renewal and expansion than the average for India. Access and service quality vary between countries. In middle-income countries such as South Africa, utilities reach about 99 percent of the urban population, the vast majority through private piped water connections. In low-income countries, 49 percent of urban areas receive water from utilities and less than half of these are through piped connections. Informal sharing of connections between neighbors accounts for 15 percent and communal standpipes account for 19 percent of water distribution. In Maputo, Mozambique, one-third of unconnected households purchase water from their household neighbors, and in Maseru, Lesotho, household resellers provide water to 31 percent of the population, including almost half of the unconnected households (AICD, 2011).