8. Business Incentives and Models for Sanitation Entrepreneurs to Provide Services to the Urban Poor in Africa

Local private entrepreneurs are fairly commonplace in the water and sanitation (WASH) sector – a World Bank study from 2005, covering 49 developing countries estimated there to be more than 10,000 independent water supply providers. Other studies suggest that the private enterprise market share for sanitation is even greater. Many of these providers work in and with poor communities where there are often no other services available. They operate at different scales, levels of formality and fulfil various functions. In the past few years, an increased focus in the WASH sector has helped to understand more about the incentives for engaging smaller-scale providers, the regulatory environment within which they work, and means to further develop entrepreneurial activities; both to increase basic WASH service delivery to the poor and stimulate local labour markets. Supporting emerging entrepreneurs who specifically help the poorest and offering business development services is a more recent approach. With the United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Council recognising the Rights to Water and Sanitation in 2010, the activities of all service providers – whether public or private, large or small – have come under scrutiny. This chapter gathers some of the emerging lessons learned about entrepreneurial models being trailed by the INGO WaterAid in Malawi and Tanzania to support service delivery to the poor.