Ethiopia’s Water and Sanitation Sector Faces Challenges

Ethiopia’s water and sanitation sector has struggled to provide clean water access to all its citizens, and there are concerns about the financial viability of water infrastructure investments. This issue was discussed at a recent forum on the country’s drinking water and sanitation challenges.

The 12th edition of this multi-stakeholder forum has been an annual event for nearly two decades, but it was disrupted for the past couple of years due to the pandemic and other factors. However, the forum has now resumed after a break.

At the forum, participants highlighted that Ethiopia’s water and sanitation sector has fallen short of achieving universal water access, partly due to insufficient funding to sustain the necessary investments. Inadequate infrastructure and lack of financial resources were cited as key reasons behind this challenge.

Another major problem raised was the lack of coordination in sanitation efforts across different levels of government. This fragmentation has made it difficult to tackle sanitation issues effectively.

In a separate meeting, the Water and Energy Minister, Engineer Habtamu Etefa, shared some positive news. He revealed that alternative energy solutions have now enabled over half a million Ethiopians to access electricity for the first time. The Minister emphasized the government’s priority to expand electricity coverage using these innovative approaches.

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