Nigeria

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, and the continent’s largest economy. It is located in West Africa and is bordering with Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east and Niger in the north.

Nigeria is a federal republic comprising 36 states and one Federal Capital Territory (FCT), where the country’s capital, Abuja, is located. States are further subdivided into 774 Local Government Areas (LGA).
 

Source: World Bank Data - Nigeria

Water and Wastewater Sector Structure

Water and wastewater sector in Nigeria is a shared responsibility between federal, state and local governments. At the federal level, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR) is responsible for water policy formulation and coordination of water related activities across the country. State and local governments are responsible for establishing water agencies for planning, provision and supervision of water and sanitation services.

At the state level, state water agencies (SWA) or water boards are in charge of water and sanitation services provision in urban and peri-urban areas. In most of the rural areas, provision of water supply is the responsibility of local government authorities (LGAs) which are often in-capacitated for performing this function.

There are 37 state water agencies (SWA), including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Some of them are established as corporations and operate under corporation law, even though they are fully state-owned. Other SWAs operate as part of the state government.

According to the FMWR’s report from 2019, 16 out of 37 SWAs are fully functional, which means that they are constantly producing water, supplying to active consumers, and collecting water tariffs. Other 12 SWAs are partially functional. In total, SWAs have estimated 1,239 waterworks serving urban populations across the country (including FCT), while 8% of water connections are metered. However, more than two-thirds of urban water consumers do not depend solely on public tap water for drinking due to poor availability and low quality. Almost half of the households use motorized boreholes which are part of approximately 2 million water points across the country.

With the exception of a few very urbanized areas (Lagos and Abuja), university campuses and several industries, there are almost no functioning wastewater networks or treatment works in Nigeria. Same as with water, the majority of Nigerians depend on self-efforts in meeting their daily sanitation needs, that are mostly present in the form of on-site solutions.