ABIDJAN

Sanitation provision in Abidjan (the largest city in Côte d’Ivoire) is grossly deficient, as in most cities in sub-Saharan Africa: most people do not have access to a hygienic toilet; large amounts of faecal waste are discharged to the environment without adequate treatment; this is likely to have major impacts on infectious disease burden and quality of life (Hutton et al. 2007). This article briefly summarizes the current sanitation situation in Abidjan.

This page is part of the fully editable open-access reference source on the sanitation status of all major cities in sub-Saharan Africa. The resource considers the 40 urban agglomerations in sub-Saharan Africa with a current population of 1 million or more. To read some of the other 40 country profiles, go back tothe resource Homepage.

N.B These pages should be considered as incomplete provisional drafts, and contributions are actively requested from specialists with expert local knowledge of each specific city

Table of Contents

Background information
Water resources and supply: overview
Sanitation access
Sewerage system
Septage management (septage = nightsoil and/or sludge from onsite facilities)
Sewage treatment (sewage = sewered wastes and/or septage)
Sanitation in low-income districts
Responsibility
Sanitation masterplan?
Sanitation financing
Major investments and donor interventions
Sources and further reading
References
Other City Profiles

Background information

Abidjan is an urban agglomeration with a population of about 4.4 million people (Brinkhoff 2010). It is a low-lying coastal city built around coastal lagoons. Climate is tropical monsoon (Köppen classification Am). Serious and frequent flooding occurs in communes such as Yopougon and Abobo (IMF 2009). Pollutant industrial activity includes petroleum and chemical industries, textiles, wood processing and food processing. A large proportion of the population lives in low-income settlements; Collignon et al. (2000) estimate that 15% of the population live in informal settlements.

Water resources and supply: overview

Almost all of Abidjan's water comes from a large, well-protected, deep aquifer under the northern part of the city; Ménard & Clarke (2000) judge this resource to be adequate in the medium term. Côte d'Ivoire is not currently projected to be at future risk of severe water scarcity (UNEP/GRID-Arendal 2002). Ménard & Clarke (2000) state that Abidjan's water supply system performs very well by comparison with other systems in West Africa. An estimated 80% of the population has access to piped water. There are very few public standpipes: most households without an in-plot connection get water from private water vendors or wells. Water quality and pressure are uniformly good, and unaccounted-for water (UFW) is low, estimated at 20% in 1980. All data are from Ménard & Clarke (2000); this publication has extensive useful information, including details of water tariffing. Very useful information, particularly on water supply for the poorest communities, is also given by Collignon et al. (2000).

Sanitation access

Sewerage coverage is high by African standards, but even so only between 10 and 35% of the population is connected (Collignon et al. 2000), mostly in wealthy and middle-income districts. Other households use low-quality or improved pit latrines or septic tanks, or bucket latrines (Collignon et al. 2000); we do not have detailed data. Attahi (1999) states that about 26% of the population uses latrines, about 20% septic tanks, and about 40% sewers; but no primary source is cited for these estimates. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for Côte d’Ivoire (IMF 2009) states that fewer than 40% of urban households nationwide have adequate sanitation. A descriptive report (Diabagate 2009) indicates that in the poor district of Sagbe (commune Abobo), most households have pit latrines, while some have flush toilets to septic tank; however, open defecation also remains significant. Public toilets are not commonly used in Abidjan.

Sewerage system

The city’s extensive drainage and sewerage systems were largely constructed in the 1970s/80s with massive assistance from the World Bank; the sewerage network comprises a main collector of 23 km, a network of 640 km, and 45 installations including pumping and pretreatment stations (Attahi 1999). The network extends through large areas of the city, not just the business centre: districts covered include Koumassi, Marcory, Vridi, Treichville, Abobo and Yopougon. The 2009 IMF Poverty Strategy Reduction Paper indicates that Abidjan to date “has over 2,000 km of public network [and 51 sewage backflow and lift stations], which is still insufficient”; also that “Since 1996, Abidjan […] has not witnessed any investment in the sector and most of the infrastructural facilities put in place have deteriorated”. A recent report (WUP-Africa, 2003) indicates that SODECI offers a 50% subsidy of the cost of connection to the network (i.e. the cost of connection between the sewer and the access point at the boundary of the property). This is a cross-subsidy funded by the sanitation fees charged to households throughout the city. However, this offer is reported to exclude households in unplanned and informal settlements; and even with subsidy, the household investment required remains significant (about $110 for connection, plus any within-plot installation costs, plus potentially increased water bills). As from July 2009, SODECI is offering 20,000 highly subsidised connections at 20,000 CFA (about $43), at least nominally extending to unplanned and informal districts such as Zimbabwé and Alliodan. However, Collignon et al. (2000) indicates that the sewerage system does not serve the poor, and it remains to be confirmed whether recent programmes have actually reached households in low-income formal or informal settlements.

Septage management (septage = nightsoil and/or sludge from onsite facilities)

Some information on pit emptying costs is given by Collignon et al. 2000. We have no detailed information on treatment/disposal facilities, if these exist.

Sewage treatment (sewage = sewered wastes and/or septage)

There are wastewater treatment plants (lagoon-based?) in the peri-urban districts of Bingerville and Dabou. We do not have detailed information on treatment volumes at these plants; final effluent discharge is presumably to the sea. In an independent evaluation of one plant comprising settling tanks and sand filtration units, Hawkins (2002) found that the plant was well-managed and basically operational, though with many elements non-functional. IMF (2009) reports that the wastewater stabilisation ponds could contaminate groundwater through infiltration. We do not currently have information about whether these or other plants are used for faecal sludge disposal and treatment.

Sanitation in low-income districts

Collignon et al. (2000) is a very useful report on water and sanitation in low-income communities. They state that “National policy regarding household sanitation clearly favors the collective solution of piped sewerage networks. But this limits service to 20 to 35 percent of Abidjan’s residents. SODECI’s recent contract to provide only sewerage service is therefore not going to make much difference to access to safe sanitation or the poor, even though every water user will be contributing to the financing of the piped sewerage network through the sanitation surtaxes. Only a policy that promotes household-level sanitation options and improves options for latrine sludge disposal can have a significant immediate impact on sanitation for poor households”. Low-income communities in Abidjan include Koweit, Sagbé (see Diabagate 2009), Gesco, and Grand Campement. We are not aware of any detailed mapping of high-sanitation-need districts, or of any specific policy for sanitation improvement in informal settlements.

Responsibility

The sewerage system is managed by a semi-public water and sanitation utility, SODECI (http://www.sodeci.com). SODECI has no clear responsibility for onsite sanitation; see previous section.

Sanitation masterplan?

Yes (as with Bouaké, Yamoussoukro, Daoukro, Daloa, Gagnoa and San-Pédro), developed with support from DFID in the 1990s. We do not have any further information.

Sanitation financing

Sewerage is basically financed through a surcharge on the water bill, which ranges between 6% for low-volume water users and 13% for high-volume water users. However, this revenue is inadequate and/or inefficiently collected at present. An unpublished note with further information on sewerage tariffs in Abidjan is available on request from g.j.norman@surrey.ac.uk

Major investments and donor interventions

No specific information at present.

Sources and further reading

Wikipedia has a map of communes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Abidjan_Communes.svg

References

Attahi, K (1999). ‘Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire’. In: Onibokun, A.G. (ed.) Managing the Monster: Urban Waste and Governance in Africa. International Development Research Centre, Ottawa. http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-42975-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

Brinkhoff T (2010) City Population. http://www.citypopulation.de

Collignon B, Taisne R & Sié Kouadio JM (2000). Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor in Côte d’Ivoire. Water and Sanitation Programme. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPSIA/Resources/490023-1120845825946/af_ci_urbanpoor.pdf

Diabagate S (2009) Analyse de la situation de l'assainissement dans les quartiers défavorisés d'Abidjan : Cas du quartier Sagbé dans la commune d'Abobo. http://www.memoireonline.com/07/09/2294/m_Analyse-de-la-situation-de-lassainissement-dans-les-quartiers-defavorises-dAbidjan-0.html

Hawkins D (2002). Waste water treatment or lack of in Abidjan. Market Research Report, U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration.

Hutton G, Haller L & Bartram J (2007) Economic and health effects of increasing coverage of low cost household drinking-water supply and sanitation interventions to countries off-track to meet MDG target 10. Geneva, Switzerland, World Health Organization. http://www.irc.nl/page/38443

IMF (2009) Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2009/cr09156.pdf

Ménard C & Clarke G (2000) Reforming water supply in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire: mild reform in a turbulent environment. http://go.worldbank.org/GAC3IWN8Y0

UNEP/GRID-Arendal (2002) Water availability in Africa. UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/water_availability_in_africa.

WUP Africa [Water Utility Partnership for Capacity Building Africa] (2003). Better Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor. Good Practice from Sub-Saharan Africa. European Communities and Water Utility Partnership, Nairobi.