WaterAid submission to the International Development Committee inquiry on the UK’s development partnership with Nigeria

Contents

1. Introduction to WaterAid

2. Summary and reason for submission

3. WASH is the cornerstone of development in Nigeria across health, education, economic growth, stability and climate resilience

4. Nigeria and the UK share a deep, historically rooted relationship – including partnerships that have driven valuable progress on WASH. The UK Government should keep building on these mutually beneficial initiatives

5. Recommendations for the future partnerships between Nigeria & the UK

6. Summary of recommendations

Introduction to WaterAid

WaterAid is an international not-for-profit organisation working to make clean water, decent toilets, and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. Founded in 1981, WaterAid engages in service delivery, policy development, advocacy and campaigns to increase access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in 22 countries in Africa, South Asia, the Pacific and the Americas. 

2. Summary and reason for submission

With over 27 years of experience delivering sustainable WASH services in Nigeria, WaterAid has witnessed firsthand how WASH is not only a basic human right but a critical enabler of Nigeria’s progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) beyond just SDG 6 (on clean water and sanitation for all). Access to these services underpins public health, economic growth, gender equality, peacebuilding and climate resilience in the country.

Yet about 70 million Nigerian’s still lack access to safe drinking water and 117 million don’t have access to a toilet of their own. Access to sanitation is also a challenge, with over 46 million people still practicing open defecation. Climate change puts additional pressure on this situation with flooding affecting water infrastructure and drought threatening water security.

The UK should continue to support Nigeria’s government and civil society in closing this gap through investment, policy influence, and partnerships that deliver lasting change. The relationship with Nigeria must continue to be anchored in interventions that have both immediate and long-term transformative potential – with universal access to WASH being one of the most powerful tools available. WASH underpins progress across many of the pillars of development and without reliable access to these interventions, Nigeria’s development ambitions will stall. WASH should be included not as a stand-alone goal, but as a foundation for reform, conflict prevention, environmental stewardship and sustainable growth.

By placing WASH at the heart of its Nigeria engagement, the UK can address immediate humanitarian needs while laying the groundwork for achieving the FCDO’s priorities laid out in its new framework for development. This means mainstreaming gender, supporting good governance – whilst combatting corruption – and fostering sustainable, inclusive growth that reinforces Nigeria’s role as a driver of regional stability and prosperity.

Our submission draws from direct input from the WaterAid Nigeria team, our Nigeria country strategy (2023–2028), our long-standing partnerships with Nigerian government institutions, civil society and the private sector, and our global expertise on WASH. We aim to demonstrate that a) the UK should continue to invest in Nigeria’s development and b) why WASH must be at the heart of this engagement.

3. WASH is the cornerstone of development in Nigeria across health, education, economic growth, stability and climate resilience

Due to Nigeria’s size, population, economic strength and geopolitical significance, the country’s development trajectory has a profound impact not only on West Africa but across the African continent and beyond.

Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa – but large gaps in economic development across its regions remain. Looking at the Nigerian States by GDP in 2021 – the top five performing states (Lagos, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Imo and Delta) overlap with the states that had the highest access to basic WASH services in 2021 – between 14% and 19% of access to basic WASH services for Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Imo States and between 23% and 26% for Lagos and Delta States. Conversely, the lowest performing states in 2021 (Yobe, Kwara, Enugu, Plateau and Zamfara) were among the states with the lowest access to basic WASH in 2021 – between 1% and 2% of access to basic WASH services for Enugu State, 3% to 5% for Plateau and Zamfara States, 5% to 8% for Kwara State and 9%-12% for Yobe State.

At current rates, Nigeria is on track to become the third most populous country in the world by 2050 – surpassing 400 million people. As of 2025, 43% of its population is under the age of 15. This demographic situation is putting a strain on the country’s resources – including water – and is driving multiple development challenges across health, education, economic growth and stability.

3.1. WASH in healthcare facilities reduces the spread of infections and antimicrobial resistance, improves health outcomes and increases economic growth

41% of healthcare facilities in Nigeria, do not have basic water supply services, 88% do not have decent toilets, and 70% lack basic hygiene services. The 2021 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping Survey also found that in Abuja, 91% of healthcare facilities lacked WASH. This situation puts both patients and healthcare workers at risk of contracting or spreading infections. The number of healthcare associated infections (HAI) in Nigeria is conservatively estimated at 848,000 cases in 2022, with 93,600 excess deaths in a year.

In this context, health workers need to take or give antibiotics regularly to prevent or treat infections that could have been averted if WASH was present in their health facilities. This overuse of antibiotics in healthcare settings that lack WASH facilities contributes to the global growth of antimicrobial resistance that costs the lives of 5 million people annually.

In addition to the human cost caused by the lack of WASH in healthcare facilities, WaterAid research found that the total economic costs of HAIs in Nigeria in 2022 stood at US$4.5 billion. This equated to 0.94% of Gross Domestic Product in 2022. The financial costs of providing healthcare to treat HAIs is US$606 million in 2022, or 3.8% of total health expenditure. In sum, the lack of WASH in healthcare facilities is both driving decline in population health and health outcomes whilst also hampering Nigeria’s GDP and economic growth – through spiralling health budgets and economic inactivity owing to poor WASH.

3.2. WASH in schools increases student attendance, especially among girls, improving educational and longer-term social and professional opportunities and gender equality. WASH in schools and at home also improves overall child health and strengthened climate resilience

Nigeria also has the highest number of out-of-school children globally, with about 10.5 million of the country’s children aged 5-14 years not in school – in part driven by poor WASH facilities at home and educational settings. In Nigeria, 89% of schools do not have access to basic WASH services. This forces some girls, like Jennifer, to miss out on schools when they are on their period due to lack of or inappropriate toilets that lack privacy. Other girls may also miss schools because they support their mothers to collect water.

Children are also missing school due to WASH related illnesses – from consuming unsafe water or from diseases like diarrhoea and cholera spreading through poor sanitation management. More than 65,000 children under 5 die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by dirty water, poor toilets and lack of hygiene facilities in Nigeria.

Access to WASH services helps improve school attendance and thus educational outcomes. When at school, access to a reliable water supply, sanitation system, and good hygiene improves children’s health and supports strong cognitive function. This is crucial when we consider that an additional year of education for girls in Africa leads to a 14% increase in future income, compared to an 11% increase for boys – driving greater gender equality, women’s empowerment, wealth, and economic growth.

WaterAid’s Foundation study also found that education plays a direct and indirect role in community resilience to climate change. High illiteracy levels and lack of access to climate change information contribute to vulnerability and create barriers to implementing adaptation and water security measures. Whereas education is associated with improved wealth and health, which strengthen climate resilience.

3.3. WASH interventions can directly support peace and stability in fragile regions of Nigeria and the wider Sahel

In parts of Nigeria, shortages of water and land have driven Fulani herdsmen into farming areas, sparking violent clashes with local farmers. In 2016 alone, these conflicts claimed 2,500 lives. Intensive petroleum extraction in Nigeria’s Niger Delta has severely polluted the region’s water, contaminating streams, groundwater, fisheries and farmland. Ethnic rebel groups frequently cite this environmental devastation as a key motive for their attacks on international oil companies and violent confrontations with the state.

WASH interventions present several opportunities to contribute towards peace and stability in Nigeria and the wider Sahel region, including:

• Promoting Integrated Water Resources Management to reduce tensions over scarce resources.
• Supporting durable WASH solutions for displaced populations.
• Developing livelihoods through the sanitation economy (outlined in section 5.2.)
• Using innovative technology to protect groundwater, which underpins both human security and environmental resilience.

3.4. WASH supports business growth and private businesses need to factor in WASH to safely manage local water resources

From a business growth perspective, water security is foundational to enabling resilient business activities – both local and international – across industries including health and pharmaceuticals, textiles, food and drinks, hospitality and technology. Several British companies have a long-standing presence in Nigeria such as Unilever, Shell, PZ Cussons, British Airways, and Diageo/Guinness.

For the corporate sector, water risk in their operations and throughout their supply chains has the potential to significantly negatively impact long-term business sustainability and the wider local communities that work nearby. Abusive, extractive or inconsiderate water use by private companies can put strains on local water resources and create tensions between the different water users such as local populations and public services.

For financial institutions, water risks provide both an investment opportunity, and a potential risk to investment portfolios. Water security therefore guarantees a positive environment for private sector investment and growth. 

3.5. The climate crisis is a water crisis, and WASH is the first line of resilience of communities to climate shocks

Finally, WASH is being increasingly impacted by climate change. Climate change is driving changes in the weather patterns in Nigeria and West Africa, with more frequent and longer droughts, extreme floods and the slow onset of sea level rises. 90% of all natural disasters are water-related and climate-related weather events are also having an impact on the quality and availability of the water that people in Nigeria need to drink, cook, shower, flush the toilet, grow crops and look after cattle.

Prolonged droughts mean that nearby sources of water dry up and people cannot use it for their basic needs. This forces women to walk for miles to collect water instead of engaging in social or lucrative activities (women and girls around the world already collectively already spend an estimated 200 million hours a year walking to fetch water). Floods can damage sanitation infrastructure and spread wastewater – contaminating fresh water sources and spreading disease in communities, in the wider region like cholera, or around the world like COVID-19. Rising sea levels - which are particularly prevalent in Nigeria – lead to the salination of freshwater in coastal areas, which is having a devastating impact on both coastal crops and the health of local populations who rely on these water sources for their daily needs.

People in urban areas in Nigeria are not spared from the impacts of climate change. A recent WaterAid analysis of the 100 most populous cities showed that flooding and droughts are putting major pressure on urban water and sanitation systems, making it harder for communities and economies to prepare for, recover from, and adapt to climate change. The report highlighted three Nigerian cities – Lagos, Onitsha and Kano. Onitsha and Kano ranked in the top 20 most critical cities both for climate hazard trends (droughts and floods) and vulnerability (based on the average of social and infrastructural vulnerability scores) – showing the urgent need for climate resilient WASH infrastructure to withstand climate change and build communities’ resilience in Nigeria.

WASH is critical to making communities resilient to climate change in the long term, and it has a multiplier effect, supporting resilience across multiple criteria and domains. This is why the IPCC has labelled WASH services as a ‘low regrets’ option and one of the most effective interventions for supporting climate adaptation.

4. Nigeria and the UK share a deep, historically rooted relationship – including partnerships that have driven valuable progress on WASH. The UK Government should keep building on these mutually beneficial projects.

4.1. The Heads of State Initiative is an effective initiative that has raised WASH on top of the political agenda in Nigeria

The Heads of States Initiative (HOSI) was set up to inspire and support Presidents and Prime Ministers to make access to WASH a national priority in their respective countries. Launched at the UN Water Conference in March 2023, HOSI is rapidly gaining momentum. By the end of 2023, 11 countries – including Nigeria – had signed up, supported by partners including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. HOSI secures high-level political commitment to accelerate progress on SDG 6 and is already producing tangible results.

The UK is uniquely placed to sustain and amplify this momentum. Its support to HOSI complements existing UK programming in Nigeria and beyond. Continued UK engagement ensures global influence and alignment with UK development priorities and continued value for money.

4.2. The Resilient Water Accelerator is an innovative initiative funded by the UK Government that has helped strengthen the policy landscape in Nigeria to drive private sector investment in water

The Resilient Water Accelerator (RWA) is an initiative incubated by WaterAid and dedicated to mobilising private and public finance for water projects that enhance climate resilience in vulnerable communities. One of its major achievements in Nigeria is the Lagos Water Partnership (LWP) launched in 2024.

For context, Lagos is home to more than 20 million people and is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, yet only 10% of residents have access to municipal water supply. The city is highly vulnerable to flooding and climate impacts. Without urgent investment, Lagos’ growth will be constrained by systemic water insecurity.

The LWP is a partnership with the Lagos State Government, investors, civil society and technical experts, designed to mobilise public and private finance for climate-resilient water projects. This will support integrated flood management and groundwater protection, whilst driving innovation and new technologies in urban water systems

By convening government, DFIs, private sector investors, and development partners, the LWP demonstrates how water financing can move from a model of aid dependency to one of investment and partnership. This aligns with the UK’s broader ambition of “investment over aid,” positioning water as a commercially viable and sustainable sector.

4.3. The UK Government has played a valuable role supporting WASH in humanitarian contexts through innovative solutions

The UK has historically supported WASH in Nigeria primarily through the lens of humanitarian intervention, with a focus on providing access for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Initiatives such as Cash4Wash were innovative and lifesaving in enabling IDPs to purchase water and hygiene services, thereby preventing disease outbreaks in emergency settings.

In the development sphere, programmes such as Sanitation, Hygiene and Water in Nigeria (SHAWN I and SHAWN II, implemented by the former Department for International Development with UNICEF) introduced sanitation marketing and entrepreneurship into the sanitation service chain. These approaches helped increase toilet ownership, created jobs and supported Nigeria’s progress towards ending open defecation.

However, these interventions faced challenges, including low levels of community ownership and limited government uptake. As a result, systems and facilities were not always sustained beyond the programme cycle, contributing minimally to long-term development. Humanitarian cash transfer models like Cash4Wash, whilst vital in the short term, risked fostering dependency in the absence of a pathway to sustainable services.

4.4. The Nigeria-UK Partnership is mutually beneficial

• Peace and stability: In particularly security fragile areas, such as the Sahel, increased WASH access can reduce tensions over scarce resources and support the return, recovery and resilience of displaced communities.
• Regional influence. Nigeria’s leadership in WASH can set a precedent for other countries in the wider Sahel and West Africa region, amplifying the UK’s impact through regional policy influence.
• Global health outcomes. As the COVID-19 pandemic showed, a health crisis somewhere can become a health crisis anywhere. Introducing WASH in countries with high levels of transience such as Nigeria fights the threat of antimicrobial resistance, which is an ever-growing threat to the NHS.   

5. Recommendations for the future partnerships between Nigeria & the UK

The UK has an opportunity to develop its development partnership with Nigeria through adjusting its future approach to WASH in Nigeria. This should be guided by the following principles:

• Localisation: supporting local government and civil society leadership in service delivery and priorities.
• Climate resilience: Ensuring all WASH systems are designed to withstand floods, droughts and general climate whiplash.
• Governance reform: Strengthening transparency, accountability and regulatory frameworks amongst CSOs and the government institutions that implement WASH.
• Gender equality and inclusion: Ensuring WASH interventions meet the needs of women, girls, and marginalised groups.
• Market-based and investment approaches: Scaling sanitation businesses and entrepreneurship to drive sustainable service provision.

The UK is well-placed to:

• Invest in large and small-scale safe water and sanitation infrastructure.
• Support the development of Nigeria’s sanitation economy, turning waste into resources that contribute to carbon reduction, energy transition and green economic growth.
• Strengthen governance systems to ensure WASH services are sustainably financed, regulated, and delivered.

The rest of this section will delve into three of the above recommendations: 1. Localisation; 2. Unlocking Nigeria’s sanitation economy; and 3. The role of development finance institutions and investment over aid.

5.1. Localisation: Supporting civil society in Nigeria and community leadership

Civil society organisations (CSOs) play a crucial role in accountability, advocacy, and service delivery in Nigeria. The UK can strengthen CSOs by investing in their capacity for:

• Policy engagement and evidence-based advocacy.
• WASH budget tracking, monitoring and evaluation.
• Supporting communities with climate risk reduction and education, disaster preparedness, and nature-based solutions.

Localisation of WASH delivery in Nigeria is essential to ensure sustainability and community ownership. The UK can support this by:

• Building the technical and institutional capacity of local government authorities – leading to the decentralisation of WASH governance.
• Investing in civil society’s role in accountability and service monitoring.
• Supporting mechanisms for community-led planning and financing.

5.2. Unlocking Nigeria’s sanitation economy

Nigeria’s sanitation economy is currently valued at US $5.8 billion and has the potential to exceed US $12 billion with universal access. The UK can help unlock this potential by:

• Providing catalytic investment and incentivising the private sector.
• De-risking investment through guarantees and blended finance.
• Promoting commercially viable WASH solutions and access to low-interest, long-term credit.
• Supporting circular and green economy models that enable resource recovery, energy transition and green economic growth.

5.3. Role of development finance institutions and investment over aid

Development finance institutions such as British International Investment (BII) could play a crucial role in both improving WASH infrastructure and improving overall WASH services by:

• Facilitating public–private partnerships for the development and operation of WASH infrastructure.
• Provide funding to de-risk investment and facilitate low-interest, long-tenure credits for SMEs to invest in the production of hygiene products and sanitation businesses.
• Designing tailored investment products for WASH, including eco-friendly transport, treatment facilities, and recycling initiatives.

An innovative example is the Lagos Water Partnership (LWP) launched in 2024 by the Resilient Water Accelerator (RWA) mentioned in section 4.2.

6. Summary of recommendations

To strengthen the UK–Nigeria development partnership, we recommend that the UK Government:

1)      Take a “WASH in all policies” approach – recognising that safe water, sanitation and hygiene are essential to many of the pillars of development and achieving the SDGs in Nigeria.

2)      Shift from short-term humanitarian interventions to long-term systems strengthening – ensuring WASH programmes are sustainable, locally-owned, and resilient to shocks, rather than dependent on temporary emergency models.

3)      Support Nigeria’s sanitation economy – by catalysing private sector investment, de-risk financing and promoting green growth that contribute to the UK’s climate priorities.

4)      Scale up localisation and civil society engagement – investing in Nigeria’s civil society capacity for advocacy, budget monitoring, behavioural change and climate resilience, whilst strengthening local government delivery.

5)      Leverage UK development finance (such as BII) for WASH infrastructure – through tailored financial instruments, blended finance and public–private partnerships that can unlock the multi-billion-dollar potential of Nigeria’s sanitation and hygiene economy.

6)      Integrate WASH into peace and stability efforts in fragile regions – supporting durable WASH solutions for displaced populations, reducing resource-based tensions, and linking water management to conflict prevention in the Sahel.

7)      Embed climate resilience into WASH and invest in Nigeria’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP) framework – ensuring UK-backed infrastructure and investment is future-proofed against floods, droughts and other climate change.

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