A USAID WASH-FIN (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene-Finance) survey of 105 private sanitation service providers (SSPs) across Senegal found that they face challenges typical of small- and medium-sized enterprises—access to finance being foremost. To overcome this, WASH-FIN Senegal is providing support to promote relationships between the SSPs and commercial banks.
The Sustainable Water and Sanitation in Africa (SUWASA) program was designed to improve access to safe, reliable, affordable, and sustainable water and sanitation services for unserved and underserved urban populations in sub-Sahara Africa. The program fostered urban water sector reforms to solve policy, institutional, regulatory, financial, and operational challenges that hindered the effective delivery of sustainable water and sanitation services for urban residents in nine African nations.
The Sustainable Water and Sanitation in Africa (SUWASA) program was implemented from 2005–2009 to improve access to safe, reliable, affordable, and sustainable water and sanitation services for unserved and underserved urban populations in sub-Sahara Africa. The program fostered urban water sector reforms to solve policy, institutional, regulatory, financial, and operational challenges that hindered the effective delivery of sustainable water and sanitation services for urban residents in nine African nations.
Senegal is among the few African countries with a WASH institutional framework that has made considerable progress in expanding WASH services, achieved, in large part, by fully embracing private sector participation.
Senegal’s water supply and sanitation sectors are among of the most developed in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the country still faces challenges.
On February 20, 2018, U.S. Ambassador to Senegal Tulinabo Mushingi spoke at the King Fahd Hotel in Dakar to mark the official launch of the USAID WASH-FIN project in the country.
Nationally, Senegal met the MDG target for water supply access. It did this by engaging the public and private sectors to effectively invest and report on investments. It focused on larger population centers, less on remote regions of the country. Its achievements set the stage for more equitable and widespread service provision as the country now works to achieve the SDGs, requiring sustainable management of universal access.
Closing financing gaps to achieve universal access to water and sanitation services through sustainable and creditworthy business models, increased public funding and expanded market finance for infrastructure investment.
WALIS is bolstering the ability of African leaders, donors, and stakeholders to use data and analyses to shape WASH strategies, plans, and budgets. WALIS provides technical, programmatic, administrative, and logistical support to improve the capacity of African water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. DAI Global leads the WALIS Team that includes engagement with multiple partners and key investors in Africa’s WASH sector.
