Global economy loses billions to poor sanitation

Global economy lost USD 223 billion last year up from USD 182.5 billion in 2010 as a result of poor sanitation, a new report launched Saturday on the sidelines of the Japan-Africa summit taking place in Nairobi shows.

The report that shed light on staggering monetary losses due to poor sanitation in developing countries was authored by Japanese firm, LIXIL Group Corporation in partnership with nonprofit group, WaterAid and Oxford Economics.

Speaking at the report`s launch, the CEO of LIXIL Corporation, Kinya Seto, decried the devastating impacts of poor sanitation to livelihoods and economies in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

“Poor sanitation represents not only a human tragedy but a huge economic burden on already hard-pressed poor countries,” Kinya remarked

He added that the first TICAD summit to be held on the African soil provided an opportunity for political and business leaders to debate innovative technologies that would solve the sanitation crisis in the continent.

While noting that poor sanitation has reversed socio-economic progress in Africa, Kinya underscored the critical role of public private partnerships and home grown innovations to solve this challenge.

Inadequate access to basic sanitation is to blame for high infant deaths and declining productivity among adults in many developing countries.

The new report disclosed that the economic losses linked to poor sanitation were heaviest in the Asia Pacific followed by Africa and the Caribbean.

According to the report, Asia pacific region incurred a loss of USD 172.3 billion dollars due to deplorable sanitation followed by Africa which recorded a loss of 19.3 billion dollars.

“In terms of cost as a share of GDP, the top ten most impacted countries were concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia,” said the report

Majority of countries in the global south require massive investments and political goodwill to achieve the 2030 sanitation goal.

The new sanitation report recommended enactment of robust policy and legislative frameworks, investments in technologies and innovations alongside strategic partnerships to revitalize the global sanitation agenda.