How a humble toilet can empower and grow Tanzania’s economy

By Kinya Seto, CEO of LIXIL

It’s rare to think of a time when Africa’s future has felt more optimistic. The rapid adoption and roll-out of accessible technology, fuelled by the continent’s growing middle class, is creating new opportunities for individuals to prosper.

Take AI and automation as an example. It’s estimated that AI could boost Africa’s economy by $2.9 trillion by 2030, equivalent to increasing GDP by 3%.

This is expected to have an immense positive impact on the cost of healthcare, agricultural crop yields and manufacturing efficiencies

While the prospect of an AI and automated future is grandiose, what if Africa – and Tanzania’s - next economic catalyst was far simpler? What if we said it started with the humble toilet? Improving sanitation is an essential foundation and an untapped opportunity to empower and grow Tanzania’s economy that can be realised today.

Over recent years, Tanzania has had some positive sanitation and hygiene momentum. However, the potential impact from a step change in sanitation and hygiene progress could be extraordinary in terms of health, social and economic outcomes. In fact, the WHO estimates that every dollar invested in sanitation provides a return on investment for society of US$ 5.50 due to lower health costs, more productivity, and fewer premature deaths.

In Tanzania, 69% of the population – or more than 47 million people - live without access to basic sanitation, according to the WHO/UNICEF’s Joint Monitoring Programme. Over 6% – or more than 4.1 million people – practice open defecation.

By increasing access to basic sanitation by just 1% in Tanzania, 670 thousand people would have brighter futures; children would live with a greater level of safety, knowing they wouldn’t have to travel in the night to use the toilet, schoolgirls would be less absent during their menstrual period supporting better educational outcomes, and individuals would have more dignity. 

But it’s also so much more than that.

To meet the sanitation needs of 670 thousand people within a year, we’d need to install 134,000 latrines. This would require an estimated 170 new masons trained in the art of installation. It would also mobilise an ecosystem of retailers, manufacturers and wholesalers as well as NGOs for last-mile reach, microfinance lenders for affordable payments, and other ancillary partners to drive demand. All that impact comes from just a 1% increase in access to sanitation. But no one is targeting 1% - stakeholders are far bolder than that.

Tanzania is a nation that has made great sanitation progress and has previously declared ambitious targets to become Open Defecation Free by 2025 before aiming for all to have access to safely managed sanitation by 2030.

Meeting its safely managed sanitation target will require the installation of nearly 10 million latrines and the employment of at more than 5,300 masons to install them over the next five-and-a-half.

When you also consider the additional roles within the sanitation supply chain and those responsible for post-purchase services such as pit emptying, you can quickly see the creation of tens of thousands of jobs in Tanzania alone.

But more remarkably for the opportunity, Tanzania is one of 14 countries in Africa with sanitation targets. Many, like Tanzania, start with the most pressing need - achieving Open Defecation Free status - but look beyond that. However, the impact of eradicating Open Defecation Free across Africa would be monumental. Collectively, meeting the open defecation-free targets in these countries – from Madagascar to Mali – is likely to impact the lives of approximately 219 million people.

Across the continent, this would require hundreds of thousands of jobs. It would be an even greater number to move everyone to safely managed sanitation.

In the sanitation economy, which creates these jobs, female entrepreneurs have a key role, which advances gender equality, cuts poverty and encourages inclusive economic growth. More than half of working women in developing countries see entrepreneurship as a route to economic empowerment. As the UN’s Sanitation and Hygiene Fund says, “When women work, economies grow”.

Improved access to sanitation and hygiene would not only create a seismic economic impact through job creation, but also through improved health and productivity. Poor sanitation and related problems cost Africa as much as 0.9 per cent of its GDPand is a contributing cause of diarrhoea, which kills more than 900 children each day across the continent.

The time to realise the opportunity is now. At LIXIL, we take our role in addressing the challenge and collaborating with partners to help Africa unlock this opportunity seriously. Through our SATO brand, we are improving sanitation and hygiene across Africa. We have designed affordable, durable, and water-saving products that seal open pit latrines and create fresher, cleaner and safer toilet experiences.

Our award-winning, locally-produced products – the SATO Pan, SATO Stool and SATO I-Trap – combine to address the barriers to accessing safely managed sanitation. Meanwhile, our SATO Tap provides an easy-to-install and portable device to wash your hands, minimising the spread of preventable diseases.

Our approach has delivered significant progress.  Globally, we are proud to have improved the lives of approximately 82 million people through our sanitation and hygiene solutions.

In Tanzania, we have been supporting the government’s efforts to improve access to sanitation and hygiene. Matching the previous ‘Nyumba ni Choo’ campaign – roughly translated to ‘a house is not complete without a proper toilet’ – we built on the spirit of innovative and creative marketing, and rolled out a ‘marketing storm’ model during Mtu ni Afya – an intensive, focused outreach designed to ensure the availability of product in regions of focused behavioural change and provide ongoing support to partners and retailers.

This initiative engaged more than 80 retailers and dealers, and – in just three months – sold more than 1,800 SATO products, improving the lives of nearly 10,000 people. It is a fantastic example of where we’ve combined with partners to address the barriers to those accessing sanitation and hygiene to great effect.

Now, as one of Japan’s leading corporations with a positive track record in Tanzania and Africa, we are playing a central role at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9). As a nation, we believe in creating a prosperous Africa. As CEO of LIXIL, I am driven by a belief that a company is a microcosm of society. In Japanese, the word for company - ‘Kai-sha’ - shares the same Japanese kanji characters as society - ‘Kai-sha’. We believe that it is a company’s responsibility to build a strong and fair global society, which is a responsibility that we embrace.

Reflecting this, we are continuing to invest in strengthening the sanitation ecosystem by forging manufacturing partnerships with organisations across Africa, deepening our connections with local NGOs to drive last-mile reach, supporting training programmes which create jobs for masons to retailers and focusing on growing a market-based sanitation economy.

Japan is known for its world-famous toilets. I am incredibly proud of how advanced our $5,000 toilets are and the innovation journey that we’ve been on. But, I am even more proud of the impact SATO - a $5 toilet - is having across Tanzania and Africa.

There is still a lot more to do, and a wealth of impact that we can create, but it is not a challenge that we can tackle solo. It requires the mobilisation of all parties. And co-operation and collaboration are a great strength. But by focusing on tackling the very real challenges of sanitation and hygiene, we believe we can be even more optimistic about the health and wealth of the Tanzania of tomorrow.