The World Bank has identified weak governance, political interference, low cost recovery and infrastructure planning inefficiency to the poor water supply sector in Nigeria.
The World Bank representative in Nigeria, Ms. Judith Warmate made this point today, June 8, on the sideline of a workshop on Urban Water Supply Sector Report in Nigeria: Challenges and Way Forward. The Workshop was organized by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation in partnership with the development partners.
Ms. Judith Warmate said that in spite of huge investments, the sector still faces structural challenges, including political control over tariffs, staffing and utility governance, weak cost recovery and high non-revenue water.
She said that power supply constraints, reliance on generators, weak metering systems, poor demand estimation and over-designed infrastructure continue to affect service delivery and sustainability.
Warmate said political economy constraints, weak institutional capacity, poor maintenance culture, and reliance on individual reform champions continue to undermine long-term reforms.
She added that reforms often lose momentum when key champions exit due to weak institutional embedding.
She said that earlier reform programmes improved water connections and collections in some states and placed sector reform on the national agenda.
She recounted that key interventions the World Bank had made include the Kaduna State Water Supply Project and the Anambra Water Supply and Sanitation Project, where the Bank contributed about $67 million, alongside $55 million from the Anambra State Government and $5.5 million from the implementing corporation.
According to her, earlier interventions include the National Water Rehabilitation Project (1992–2001), covering 21 states, including the Federal Capital Territory, followed by the Multi-State Water Supply Project in states such as Taraba and Katsina.
Warmate said that the sector later shifted to reform-focused programmes, including Urban Water Sector Reform Projects I, II and III, which formed the basis for the Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (SURWASH) Programme.
She explained that SURWASH is a results-based financing programme under the Programme-for-Results (PforR) instrument, where disbursement is tied to independently verified performance outcomes rather than inputs.
She disclosed that cumulative World Bank financing in the subsector is estimated at about $1.27 billion, while SURWASH funding was revised from about $700 million to $410 million due to non-performance concerns.
She said that at best, Kaduna State recovered about 40 per cent of operation and maintenance costs, while most utilities remain far below sustainable levels.
Warmate said that SURWASH is shifting focus towards results-based financing, linking disbursement to independently verified service delivery outcomes, while combining PforR and Investment Project Financing to strengthen systems.
“The programme also integrates water, sanitation and hygiene interventions at local government level to improve coordination, accountability, and sustainability.”
She said that capacity-building cohorts in Katsina and Gombe States are in their third cycle, focusing on utility creditworthiness, financial management and business planning, with regulators also involved.
