Analysis of Sub-Regional Drinking Water Services in Africa, 2000-2020

Abstract

Safe drinking water is a basic necessity of life. However, meeting this need has been a major challenge in most countries in Africa. This study analyzed the sub-regional drinking water services in Africa from 2000-2020. The study sourced data from the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) reports for 2017 and 2021. The 2000 and 2020 estimated national basic drinking water coverage, disaggregated for rural and urban (RU) areas of African countries were extracted and analyzed. The findings revealed that basic water services in Africa were poorly provided in the sub-regions, particularly in the rural area, where the population not served was high. The results of the t-test (t4 = -8.078, p = 0.001, α = 0.05) and (t4 = -4.375, p = 0.012, α = 0.05) revealed that significant differences exist in basic water services between RU areas in 2000 and 2020, respectively. Similarly, the t-test (t4 = -6.668, p = 0.003, α = 0.05) also shows that significant progress exists in basic water services from 2000-2020 in the sub-regions. However, the national annual rate of service provision lag behind expected progress for the attainment of the drinking water target, as the projected 2030 coverage in the sub-regions fell short of the expected 100% coverage. Therefore, to achieve target 6.1 in the sub-regions, basic water services have to improve at least four-fold.