A household toilet
An innovative and affordable loan scheme for people living in urban areas to build their own household toilet has been launched by the Environmental Sanitation and Health Directorate, UNICEF and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The new sanitation fund – of which Apex Bank is the contracted funds manager for 2019 – has been established to address the challenges of basic sanitation in urban communities.
The loans for household toilets– which are being offered with an operational fee of 12 per cent and with less demanding lending criteria than other loans products– have the potential to change the landscape of urban sanitation for thousands of families as they will now have the opportunity to build their own place of convenience.
There are approximately four million households in Ghana who do not have a toilet for exclusive use by their family.
While access to basic sanitation has increased from 21 per cent to 25 per cent in urban areas, statistics have proven that it is the poorest who are more likely to practise open defecation.
The rate of 12 per cent is much more favourable in comparison to average bank loan fees which can range from between 26 and 40 per cent, and often requires two salaried creditors and other prohibitive criteria. Such conditions make it restrictive and unobtainable for many sectors of society to access their own household toilet.
Through a mass application process over the past two weeks involving environmental health officers and rural banks, a total of 457 loans have been approved for households and 15 loans approved for business.
“In our search for practical scalable solutions to our sanitation challenges, a revolving fund presents one of the best options, but without repayment of loans this potential immediately drops.
We need those who access the loans to be responsible, but we also need to make sure our assemblies are engaging with households to remind them of this responsibility and that participating banks are playing their part,” Cecilia Abena Dapaah, Minister for Sanitation & Water Resources, stated.
“Access to finance is necessary in the sanitation sub sector, to give access to sanitation service delivery and stir up entrepreneurship in the sanitation business. It is the sustainable way of reaching our SDG 6 target,” Ron Strikker, the Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, pointed out.
The sanitation fund is currently being rolled out in three major assembly areas such as Ashaiman, Ho and Tamale.
UNICEF is also building the capacity of rural community banks (RCB) and metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to ensure the smooth implementation of the sanitation fund.
“UNICEF is committed to continue working with the government of Ghana, development partners and other actors to make Ghana a much cleaner country, where families can enjoy a dignified life, where children can grow up in a safe and healthy environment, and where no one is left behind,” Anne-Claire Dufay, UNICEF representative in Ghana, said.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri