Visualizing Water Accessibility in Sub-Saharan Africa
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Visualizing the Water Accessibility Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa

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chart showing water accessibility in rural and urban populations across sub saharan africa

Visualizing the Water Accessibility Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa

According to the United Nations, having access to safe drinking water is a universal human right.

Yet, in Sub-Saharan Africa, only 39% of the population has water connected to their homes—and in the region’s rural areas, this figure drops to just 19%.

This graphic by Gilbert Fontana uses data from the United Nations to compare water accessibility in different countries across Sub-Saharan Africa. The data specifically looks at water on-premises, which is defined as water that’s connected to a person’s dwelling.

The Water Accessibility Gap

In Sub-Saharan Africa, water accessibility varies greatly both within and across countries.

For example, Ethiopia has one of the widest gaps within a single country—while 75% of its urban population has access to on-premises water, only 5% of its rural population has water piped to their homes.

While it is one of the most populated countries in Africa, with more than 115 million people as of 2020, Ethiopia is also one of the poorest. It has a national income per capita of only $890, and about 20% of Ethiopia’s population lives in rural areas of the country, leaving about 4.5 million people without access to on-premises water.

Here’s a breakdown of water access in other countries across Sub-Saharan Africa:

CountryPopulation Type% of population with drinking water on premises (2020)
🇲🇺​ MauritiusUrban99.9%
🇲🇺​ MauritiusRural99.8%
​🇦🇴 AngolaUrban54.7%
​🇦🇴 AngolaRural7.5%
​🇧🇯​ BeninUrban39.9%
​🇧🇯​ BeninRural10.4%
🇧🇼 BotswanaUrban95.1%
🇧🇼 BotswanaRural50.2%
​🇧🇫​ Burkina FasoUrban57.9%
​🇧🇫​ Burkina FasoRural3.1%
🇧🇮 BurundiUrban58.5%
🇧🇮 BurundiRural3.0%
🇨🇲 CameroonUrban54.7%
🇨🇲 CameroonRural7.5%
🇨🇻​ Cape VerdeUrban92.2%
🇨🇻​ Cape VerdeRural80.1%
​​🇨🇫 Central African RepublicUrban11.5%
​​🇨🇫 Central African RepublicRural2.3%
🇹🇩​ ChadUrban30.5%
🇹🇩​ ChadRural2.0%
🇨🇮 Côte d'IvoireUrban73.0%
🇨🇮 Côte d'IvoireRural14.6%
🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the CongoUrban40.4%
🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the CongoRural1.0%
🇩🇯 DjiboutiUrban58.2%
🇩🇯 DjiboutiRural4.5%
🇸🇿 EswatiniUrban93.1%
🇸🇿 EswatiniRural37.3%
🇪🇹 EthiopiaUrban75.1%
🇪🇹 EthiopiaRural5.2%
🇬🇦 GabonUrban76.3%
🇬🇦 GabonRural18.9%
🇬🇭 GhanaUrban60.3%
🇬🇭 GhanaRural16.1%
🇬🇳 GuineaUrban77.5%
🇬🇳 GuineaRural21.5%
🇬🇼 Guinea-BissauUrban40.9%
🇬🇼 Guinea-BissauRural4.7%
🇰🇪 KenyaUrban57.7%
🇰🇪 KenyaRural23.4%
🇱🇸 LesothoUrban78.1%
🇱🇸 LesothoRural8.9%
🇱🇷 LiberiaUrban23.5%
🇱🇷 LiberiaRural4.8%
🇲🇬 MadagascarUrban38.2%
🇲🇬 MadagascarRural13.7%
🇲🇼 MalawiUrban54.4%
🇲🇼 MalawiRural10.2%
🇲🇱 MaliUrban61.5%
🇲🇱 MaliRural16.5%
🇲🇷 MauritaniaUrban54.4%
🇲🇷 MauritaniaRural28.7%
🇲🇿 MozambiqueUrban65.2%
🇲🇿 MozambiqueRural13.7%
🇳🇦 NamibiaUrban74.9%
🇳🇦 NamibiaRural48.2%
🇳🇪 NigerUrban65.8%
🇳🇪 NigerRural7.7%
🇳🇬 NigeriaUrban39.9%
🇳🇬 NigeriaRural17.7%
🇨🇬 Republic of the CongoUrban69.2%
🇨🇬 Republic of the CongoRural19.1%
🇷🇼 RwandaUrban45.5%
🇷🇼 RwandaRural5.0%
🇸🇹 São Tomé and PríncipeUrban40.1%
🇸🇹 São Tomé and PríncipeRural24.7%
🇸🇳 SenegalUrban87.5%
🇸🇳 SenegalRural59.0%
🇸🇱 Sierra LeoneUrban24.6%
🇸🇱 Sierra LeoneRural9.2%
🇸🇴 SomaliaUrban68.1%
🇸🇴 SomaliaRural9.1%
🇿🇦 South AfricaUrban91.2%
🇿🇦 South AfricaRural51.3%
🇸🇸 South SudanUrban3.7%
🇸🇸 South SudanRural2.6%
🇹🇿 TanzaniaUrban65.9%
🇹🇿 TanzaniaRural19.9%
🇬🇲 The GambiaUrban67.6%
🇬🇲 The GambiaRural7.6%
🇹🇬 TogoUrban36.8%
🇹🇬 TogoRural6.7%
🇺🇬 UgandaUrban42.8%
🇺🇬 UgandaRural8.0%
🇿🇲 ZambiaUrban56.9%
🇿🇲 ZambiaRural8.6%
🇿🇼 ZimbabweUrban67.9%
🇿🇼 ZimbabweRural12.9%

As the table above shows, the rural population in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is facing some of the worst water scarcity issues across the region, with less than 1% of its rural population having access to on-premises water.

This is particularly worrisome because the DRC has the most fresh-water resources of any country in Africa.

Yet, due to poor infrastructure and conflict-related damage to facilities, hundreds of thousands of people in the DRC do not have safe running water in their homes.

What’s the Impact on the Population?

Without water connected to their homes, people have no choice but to walk to the nearest water source, to collect and carry it back to their homes.

Often, the burden of collecting water falls onto women and children, which can impact their access to education and opportunities to study.

In Chad, where 2% of the rural population has running water in their homes, female literacy rates sit at 14%. According to data from UNESCO, more than 700,000 children weren’t in school in 2019, and of those children, almost 500,000 were female.

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This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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U.S. vs. China: Mapping Trade Dominance in Africa (2003-2023)

As of 2023, 52 out of the 54 African countries trade more with China than with the U.S., compared to just 18 countries in 2003.

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Two maps comparing African trade with the U.S. vs China in 2003 vs 2023

Trade With Africa: China vs. U.S.

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

China has steadily expanded its global trade footprint and now surpasses the U.S. as the leading trading partner in many regions around the world.

In Africa, for instance, China overtook the U.S. as the continent’s top trading partner back in 2009—a position it continues to hold today.

This graphic visualizes whether each African country trades with the U.S. or China more in 2003 versus 2023.

Data comes from the Observatory of Economic Complexity and UN Comtrade via the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 2023 or the latest data available was used.

African Countries Are Choosing China over the States

Below, we show which country (U.S. or China) each African country traded with more in 2003 versus 2023.

CountryTrades more with? (2003)Trades more with? (2023)
🇩🇿 Algeria🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇦🇴 Angola🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇧🇯 Benin🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇧🇼 Botswana🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇧🇫 Burkina Faso🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇧🇮 Burundi🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇨🇲 Cameroon🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇨🇻 Cape Verde🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇨🇫 Central African Republic🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇹🇩 Chad🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇰🇲 Comoros🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇩🇯 Djibouti🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇪🇬 Egypt🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇪🇷 Eritrea🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇸🇿 Eswatini🇨🇳 China🇺🇸 United States
🇪🇹 Ethiopia🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇬🇦 Gabon🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇬🇲 The Gambia🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇬🇭 Ghana🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇬🇳 Guinea🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇰🇪 Kenya🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇱🇸 Lesotho🇺🇸 United States🇺🇸 United States
🇱🇷 Liberia🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇱🇾 Libya🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇲🇬 Madagascar🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇲🇼 Malawi🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇲🇱 Mali🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇲🇷 Mauritania🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇲🇺 Mauritius🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇲🇦 Morocco🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇲🇿 Mozambique🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇳🇦 Namibia🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇳🇪 Niger🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇳🇬 Nigeria🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇷🇼 Rwanda🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇸🇹 São Tomé & Príncipe🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇸🇳 Senegal🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇸🇨 Seychelles🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇸🇱 Sierra Leone🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇸🇴 Somalia🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇿🇦 South Africa🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇸🇸 South Sudan🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇸🇩 Sudan🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇹🇿 Tanzania🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇹🇬 Togo🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇹🇳 Tunisia🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇺🇬 Uganda🇺🇸 United States🇨🇳 China
🇿🇲 Zambia🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe🇨🇳 China🇨🇳 China

In 2003, China was the preferred trading partner over the U.S. for 18 African countries or 35% of the continent.

Fast forward 20 years, 52 out of the 54 African countries (97%) trade more with China than with the U.S. as of 2023.

China-Africa trade climbed to $295 billion in 2024, marking a 6% year-on-year increase.

Beyond trade, China has also increased its foreign direct investment (FDI) into the continent, with annual FDI flows rising from about $75 million in 2003 to nearly $4 billion in 2023, focusing on sectors like agriculture, light manufacturing, and services.

China has proactively sought to improve China-Africa relations through major initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which are designed to boost trade by investing in infrastructure, streamlining trade processes, and strengthening African value chains.

However, China has also faced criticism for alleged “debt-trap diplomacy,” a practice in which it is accused of providing loans to countries that may struggle to repay them, including many of Africa’s poorest countries.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about China’s trade relations, check out this graphic that visualizes the country’s exports by region from 2000 to 2022.

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