Company Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has warned towards the handover of Lagos’ water sector to non-public profiteers as soon as the tasks are accomplished.
CAPPA’s Government Director, Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, in a press release, argued that privatising Lagos’ water provide would undermine the large investments already made by the state.
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CAPPA urged the Lagos State Authorities to withstand any temptation to privatise or concession the Adiyan II mission and different water therapy amenities throughout the state.
“Water isn’t a commodity to be bought to the best bidder. If Adiyan II or every other public water facility is handed over to non-public companies, Lagosians will undergo greater tariffs, restricted entry, and company exploitation,” the non-governmental organisation warned.
CAPPA cited failed privatisation experiments throughout Africa, the place foreign-backed water tasks collapsed on account of skyrocketing prices, contract failures, and profit-driven insurance policies that left tens of millions with out entry to scrub water.
Moreover, CAPPA pointed to the current withdrawal of the US Company for Worldwide Growth (USAID) from Lagos’ water sector as a crucial lesson on why outsourcing crucial infrastructure to exterior financiers with hidden agendas is pointless.CAPPA insisted that the withdrawal of funding from USAID to the Lagos State Authorities must be thought to be a blessing in disguise, because it is a chance for the state authorities to take full management of its water sector slightly than leaving it weak to shifting donor priorities, the place monetary commitments are topic to geopolitical agendas, austerity measures, and altering home insurance policies in donor international locations, all of which might depart each governments and communities stranded.
Underneath the 2021 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Lagos State and USAID, no fewer than 5 mini waterworks had been slated for rehabilitation, with non-public sector involvement as a key part. Nonetheless, USAID’s abrupt withdrawal of funding, pushed by upheavals and funding cutbacks throughout the U.S. authorities, has laid naked the hazards of counting on exterior entities to offer important public companies. Past the rapid monetary shortfall, this exit creates even deeper dangers, leaving coverage vacuums, stalling crucial tasks, and finally weakening native decision-making energy over very important utilities.
With USAID gone, the Lagos Water Company’s Managing Director, Engr. Mukthar Tijjani, has confirmed that the state is now looking for funding from different worldwide companies, together with the Japan Worldwide Cooperation Company (JICA) and France’s Agence Française de Développement (AFD), to maintain water infrastructure tasks. CAPPA raised the alarm about this improvement, warning that these monetary establishments have an extended historical past of imposing harsh industrial circumstances on public utilities.
“JICA and AFD have a observe file of attaching harmful circumstances to their loans and grants—cost-recovery tariffs, bulk water buy agreements, and privatization clauses and mandates that prioritize company income over public welfare. AFD, particularly, has shut ties to Suez, an organization infamous for its aggressive pro-privatization stance and the devastation it leaves in its wake. If Lagos aligns itself with these buccaneers, residents will quickly be burdened with unaffordable water tariffs whereas the state loses management over its personal infrastructure,” CAPPA cautioned.
CAPPA inspired Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to not be discouraged by the withdrawal of USAID however to slightly deal with it as a blessing in disguise and make historical past by retaining Lagos’ water beneath full public management.
“This can be a defining second. Lagos has the chance to guide Africa’s water justice trigger by rejecting privatisation and strengthening its public water methods. As Engr. Mukthar rightly acknowledged in an interview on this matter, ‘…we have to depend on the state authorities extra… it’s extra predictable…’—in contrast to funding from exterior sources.
“The state should put money into the Lagos Water Company and the Ministry of Surroundings and Water Assets to reinforce their operational effectivity and guarantee transparency within the sector slightly than handing over management to international profiteers. The selections made in the present day will decide whether or not water stays a public good accessible to all Lagosians or whether or not it turns into a luxurious out there solely to those that can afford it,” the assertion concluded.
CAPPA urged Lagosians to stay vigilant and demand that their authorities prioritise individuals over revenue, simply because it recommended the Lagos State Authorities for making important strides towards funding crucial water infrastructure throughout the state, notably the Adiyan II Water Remedy Plant.
CAPPA stated the regular progress on the mission 12 years within the making, demonstrates that state-led and state-funded options stay the very best pathway to increasing public water provide and attaining common entry to scrub, secure, and reasonably priced water for Lagosians.
In keeping with stories from Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s current go to to the ability, Adiyan II is now 80% full and stays on observe for its 2027 completion timeline. In an extra present of dedication, the state authorities has allotted an extra ₦20 billion in its 2025 fiscal finances to settle “excellent liabilities” for the mission.
