Towards the commercialisation of urban water supply in Nigeria – results of a willingness to pay survey in Zaria

Abstract

The National Policy for Water Supply and Sanitation of the Federal Government in Nigeria (NPWSS) strongly advocates the adoption of commercialisation and privatisation of piped urban water supply as a means of ensuring its sustainability through full cost recovery. This paper examines the economic feasibility and implications on access to water supply if this policy is eventually implemented using the case study of Zaria. A household survey was conducted to assess willingness to pay using contingent valuation procedures. Compared with present flat tariff of N 400 for single tap connections, it is shown from the data that 44% of households were willing to pay N 600 or more monthly under a commercialised regime. However, most households not presently connected indicate inability to pay for the initial cost of connection to the water supply system even under improved service conditions. The data was tested for differences among the 16 neighbourhoods using ANOVA, whence it is revealed that although there are no significant (P = .05) differences in the willingness to pay for monthly bills, there were significant differences (within and between groups) in the willingness o pay for connections. The implication drawn from this trend is that economically, there is a capacity to commercialise water supply as proposed in the NPWSS.