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Benin aims to increase drinking water service coverage to 100% by 2026

In its pursuit of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Benin has made universal access to drinking water and sanitation (SDG 6) a priority. To achieve this goal, investment in water and sanitation infrastructure needs to step up. Indeed, by 2022, the drinking water coverage rate was 76.7% in rural areas and 71.8% in urban areas. The inaugural €500 million Eurobond ODD issue in 2021 has enabled an intensification of investments, with 17.5% of these funds allocated to projects to improve access to drinking water and sanitation.

This third edition of the Benin Sustainable Development Report 2024 aims to support the Government of Benin’s continued efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda, especially to achieve the SDG 6.

Romuald WADAGNI, Minister of Economy and Finance in charge of Cooperation, Minister of State, states: “The current context, marked by the repercussions of climate change and health and geopolitical crises, stresses the need for an integrated and resilient approach to water resource management. It is imperative to strengthen cooperation between the various actors, promote innovative technologies and raise public awareness about water-related issues”.

The SDSN Benin Network, launched in July 2023 and co-hosted by the University of Abomey-Calavi and the Directorate of Research and Strategic Studies of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, has co-produced the Sustainable Development Report for Benin 2024. For this edition, the SDSN Benin carried out a case study on access to drinking water in Benin, in collaboration with the CSO-ODD and the DRES of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, the SONEB and ANAEP-MR, and proposed ways forward for achieving the SDGs in Benin.

The report is available online from 19 September 2024 at 23:59 pm CET at benin.sdgindex.org

Citation: Massa, I., Toure, S., Fuller, G., Eggoh, J., Assouto, A. (2024). Benin Sustainable Development Report 2024. Progress towards SDG 6: Safe drinking water and sanitation for all. Paris: SDSN, Cotonou: SDSN Benin.

The main findings of the SDG Index and Dashboard are as follows:

  • Benin is halfway to achieving all 17 SDGs, with a score of 55.6 out of 100, surpassing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
  • Overall, Benin is performing better than the average of ECOWAS member countries in terms of achieving the SDGs. Although it still faces major challenges in achieving several SDGs, these are fewer in number than in the rest of the subregion.
  • At the current rate of progress, Benin is on track to achieve SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and 10 (Reduced Inequalities) –almost 29.6% of the targets measured in this report are on track to be achieved by 2030. Yet, declining trends on SDGs 4 (Quality Education), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions) need to be monitored.
  • Benin is lagging behind the subregion on SDG 6, particularly in terms of basic drinking water and sanitation.
  • GAP II strategic priorities 1 (Strengthening democracy and the rule of law), 2 (Consolidating good governance), 3 (Strengthening the macroeconomic framework and maintaining its stability) and 4 (Accelerating economic growth) have relatively lower potential impacts on SDG 6.
  • Strategic priorities 5 (Promoting quality education and technical and vocational education and training), 6 (Improving people’s access to basic social services and social protection) and 7 (Strengthening the balanced and sustainable development of the national space) support the most significant transformations towards achieving SDG 6.
  • Notwithstanding the considerable investments in the water and sanitation sectors, assessment of GAP II budget allocations shows that the majority of government funding is directed towards strategic priority 4, which has limited impact on SDG 6 compared to other strategic priorities, despite some positive secondary impacts.
  • The case study on safe drinking water access in Benin shows that the Government has implemented major reforms and investments towards improving access to drinking water, particularly in rural areas. The SDG Eurobond has also enabled Benin to step up these government initiatives.

SDSN Benin proposes the following ways forward to improve access to drinking water:

  • Increase investments in water and sanitation infrastructure, both in urban and rural areas.
  • Strategic priorities 5, 6, and 7 of PAG II should be given special attention with a view to re-evaluating budget allocations to focus more resources on the water and sanitation sectors.
  • Adopting the "Regulated Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Mechanism" for the management of water infrastructure and integrating the "low-cost connection" component are essential to ensure equitable and affordable access to water services.
  • Accelerate the process of modernizing public procurement procedures to improve the transparency and efficiency of projects.