In observance of World Water Day, new findings from Afrobarometer’s Round 6 surveys in 36 African countries give voice to citizens who call on their governments to address inadequate water supply and sanitation as a top priority.

Despite some infrastructure improvements, nearly half (45%) of Africans went without enough clean water for home use during the past year. More than half (51%) have to leave their compounds in order to access water. One-third of surveyed communities lack access to a piped-water system, and two-thirds lack access to sewage infrastructure. Citizens’ ratings of their government’s performance in providing water and sanitation services worsened over the past decade: A majority say their government is doing a “fairly” or “very” poor job.

Released on World Water Day (March 22), the survey findings give voice to citizens who call on their governments to do a better job of ensuring access to water and sanitation.

Public ratings of government performance in providing water and sanitation services have worsened over the past decade: A majority say their government is doing “fairly” or “very” badly.

The new report is based on nearly 54,000 interviews in 36 African countries in 2014/2015.

Key findings

Overall, the past decade has seen no improvement in the experience of water scarcity. Across 18 countries tracked by Afrobarometer surveys since 2005/2006,2 the average proportion of respondents who went without enough water increased marginally, from 40% to 43%.