Lagos: Fixing Urban Sanitation through Smarter Systems

In this piece, the Founder of Policy Vault Project and a Principal at Dev-Afrique Development Advisors, Mr. Ridwan Sorunke*, argues that Lagos State must invest in strong sanitation data systems to improve sanitation and reduce diarrheal diseases and child mortality.

Sanitation is often treated like the stepchild of public infrastructure in Africa’s booming cities. In Lagos, Nigeria’s economic nerve center, the consequences of this neglect are visible in its overburdened latrines, overflowing septic tanks, and recurring health outbreaks in informal settlements. But what if the solution isn’t just about building more toilets — but collecting more data?

Lagos is home to over 20 million people, a sizable population of whom depend on non-sewered sanitation — a term that might sound technical but simply refers to toilets and sanitation systems that are not connected to underground sewer networks. This includes pit latrines, septic tanks, and container-based toilets that store human waste on-site and require manual emptying. These systems are especially common in areas where building sewer networks would be too expensive or physically difficult.

Non-sewered sanitation plays a crucial role in Lagos, particularly in informal neighborhoods where sewers do not reach. But while these sanitation systems are essential, they are also invisible in many ways — underfunded, untracked, and unmanaged by the public sector. Because there is little reliable data about where they exist, how often they are serviced, or whether waste is disposed of safely, authorities are often left guessing — and the public bears the health and environmental cost.

A groundbreaking report by Dev-Afrique Development Advisors revealed that this is not a Lagos-specific problem. Across sub-Saharan Africa, non-sewered sanitation is the dominant model, serving nearly half the population. However, data systems that should underpin policy, regulation, and investment in this form of sanitation are either fragmented, project-based, or simply absent.

The Sanitation Data Deficit
The Lagos State Wastewater Management Office (LSWMO) conducted a baseline mapping in 2022, but the data was deemed too fragmented and insufficient for effective policymaking. While the mapping demonstrated the political will to trigger action, the data systems gap remains wide. As it stands, Lagos’s sanitation data systems are still largely underdeveloped and in the nascent stage — lacking both the institutional capacity and technical infrastructure to collect, integrate, and use the data needed for citywide sanitation planning.

This mirrors broader challenges across Africa, where utilities often lack dedicated systems to capture and analyze data on pit emptying, sludge disposal, or treatment plant usage.
According to Dev-Afrique, most utilities still rely on outdated paper-based methods or donor-driven digital tools that do not integrate into broader enterprise systems. Without a clear data structure, utilities cannot effectively track service gaps, monitor performance, or respond to health risks and shocks.
Critical questions remain unanswered: which neighborhoods are underserved? How often are pits emptied? Where is the sludge dumped?

The result is an opaque sanitation ecosystem vulnerable to inefficiencies, environmental contamination, and disease outbreaks.

Why Data Matters

Investing in strong sanitation data systems is not just about numbers — it is about lives. In Lagos, unsafe sanitation is a leading contributor to diarrheal diseases and child mortality. With climate change intensifying flood risks, untreated waste is increasingly ending up in drainage systems and water bodies, spreading pathogens across communities.

Data systems can change that. They allow cities to map toilet infrastructure, track waste flows, and identify service gaps. By building dashboards that integrate geospatial, health, and infrastructure data, governments can respond faster, allocate resources smarter, and hold service providers accountable.

Countries like Zambia and Kenya are already leading the way. Zambia’s NWASCO regulator launched an urban onsite sanitation and fecal sludge management framework that mandates utilities to map sanitation coverage, monitor service levels, and report regularly. Kenya’s WASREB has built the WARIS and MajiData platforms to streamline data flows between utilities and regulators.

What Lagos Can Do

To catch up, Lagos must urgently overhaul its sanitation data systems along two major fronts:

Establish an Integrated Sanitation Data Hub

Lagos should develop a digital platform that integrates data from multiple sources — local councils, private pit emptying operators, environmental agencies, and health ministries. The platform should be built around the sanitation data value pipeline: data generation, analysis, and use in real-time decision-making.

Adopt Utility-Ready Data Collection Tools

Tools like mWater, KoboCollect, and ODK have been effectively used in countries like Malawi and Uganda. In Kampala, the Weyonje app allows users to request pit-emptying services while giving regulators real-time visibility into sludge collection and disposal. A similar tool for Lagos could boost transparency and citizen trust.
Lagos can also look toward more advanced data platforms like EDAMS, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that integrates technical, commercial, and operational sanitation data. EDAMS is already in use in parts of Zambia and Egypt, helping utilities manage billing, asset tracking, and regulatory compliance.

Globally, Bangladesh’s Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) serves as a powerful model for consolidating data across government ministries and private actors. IMIS provides policymakers with a single source of truth for planning sanitation investments, tracking progress, and improving coordination across agencies.

Mobilizing Political and Financial Capital
One of the most striking findings from the Dev-Afrique report is the political marginalisation of sanitation. Sanitation often competes with flashier sectors like roads or power. Yet, every dollar invested in sanitation yields returns in public health, productivity, and environmental sustainability.

Amid declining donor funding and strategic shifts by key development partners like the recent end of USAID or the increasing move of other funds toward technical assistance, policy reform, and systems strengthening — the Lagos State government must step up. That means proactively allocating domestic resources toward building resilient sanitation data systems. Dedicated budget lines are needed for digital infrastructure, integrated data platforms, and institutional capacity-building. By prioritizing data as a core element of public service delivery, Lagos can demonstrate leadership, unlock co-financing opportunities, and align with the new realities of performance-based and catalytic funding models.

Reimagining Urban Sanitation
The sanitation ladder will not be climbed with toilets alone. It requires a digital backbone that tells us where we stand and how to move forward. As Lagos aspires to become a 21st-century megacity, its sanitation governance must be smart, inclusive, and data-driven.

We are at a turning point. The technologies exist. The models exist. The urgency is undeniable. What remains is the political will — and domestic financing commitments — to prioritize data, not just as a reporting tool, but as a compass for equitable service delivery.

If Lagos gets this right, it won’t just improve sanitation — it will redefine how other West African cities serve their people in the data age.

*Sorunke is the Founder of the Policy Vault Project and a Principal at Dev-Afrique Development Advisors, a strategy and advisory firm supporting governments, private sector actors, and nonprofits across Africa in driving data-informed development outcomes.