Africa
Visualizing the Water Accessibility Divide in 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 homesโand in the regionโs 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 thatโs connected to a personโs 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 countryโwhile 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.
Hereโs a breakdown of water access in other countries across Sub-Saharan Africa:
Country | Population Type | % of population with drinking water on premises (2020) |
---|---|---|
๐ฒ๐บโ Mauritius | Urban | 99.9% |
๐ฒ๐บโ Mauritius | Rural | 99.8% |
โ๐ฆ๐ด Angola | Urban | 54.7% |
โ๐ฆ๐ด Angola | Rural | 7.5% |
โ๐ง๐ฏโ Benin | Urban | 39.9% |
โ๐ง๐ฏโ Benin | Rural | 10.4% |
๐ง๐ผ Botswana | Urban | 95.1% |
๐ง๐ผ Botswana | Rural | 50.2% |
โ๐ง๐ซโ Burkina Faso | Urban | 57.9% |
โ๐ง๐ซโ Burkina Faso | Rural | 3.1% |
๐ง๐ฎ Burundi | Urban | 58.5% |
๐ง๐ฎ Burundi | Rural | 3.0% |
๐จ๐ฒ Cameroon | Urban | 54.7% |
๐จ๐ฒ Cameroon | Rural | 7.5% |
๐จ๐ปโ Cape Verde | Urban | 92.2% |
๐จ๐ปโ Cape Verde | Rural | 80.1% |
โโ๐จ๐ซ Central African Republic | Urban | 11.5% |
โโ๐จ๐ซ Central African Republic | Rural | 2.3% |
๐น๐ฉโ Chad | Urban | 30.5% |
๐น๐ฉโ Chad | Rural | 2.0% |
๐จ๐ฎ Cรดte d'Ivoire | Urban | 73.0% |
๐จ๐ฎ Cรดte d'Ivoire | Rural | 14.6% |
๐จ๐ฉ Democratic Republic of the Congo | Urban | 40.4% |
๐จ๐ฉ Democratic Republic of the Congo | Rural | 1.0% |
๐ฉ๐ฏ Djibouti | Urban | 58.2% |
๐ฉ๐ฏ Djibouti | Rural | 4.5% |
๐ธ๐ฟ Eswatini | Urban | 93.1% |
๐ธ๐ฟ Eswatini | Rural | 37.3% |
๐ช๐น Ethiopia | Urban | 75.1% |
๐ช๐น Ethiopia | Rural | 5.2% |
๐ฌ๐ฆ Gabon | Urban | 76.3% |
๐ฌ๐ฆ Gabon | Rural | 18.9% |
๐ฌ๐ญ Ghana | Urban | 60.3% |
๐ฌ๐ญ Ghana | Rural | 16.1% |
๐ฌ๐ณ Guinea | Urban | 77.5% |
๐ฌ๐ณ Guinea | Rural | 21.5% |
๐ฌ๐ผ Guinea-Bissau | Urban | 40.9% |
๐ฌ๐ผ Guinea-Bissau | Rural | 4.7% |
๐ฐ๐ช Kenya | Urban | 57.7% |
๐ฐ๐ช Kenya | Rural | 23.4% |
๐ฑ๐ธ Lesotho | Urban | 78.1% |
๐ฑ๐ธ Lesotho | Rural | 8.9% |
๐ฑ๐ท Liberia | Urban | 23.5% |
๐ฑ๐ท Liberia | Rural | 4.8% |
๐ฒ๐ฌ Madagascar | Urban | 38.2% |
๐ฒ๐ฌ Madagascar | Rural | 13.7% |
๐ฒ๐ผ Malawi | Urban | 54.4% |
๐ฒ๐ผ Malawi | Rural | 10.2% |
๐ฒ๐ฑ Mali | Urban | 61.5% |
๐ฒ๐ฑ Mali | Rural | 16.5% |
๐ฒ๐ท Mauritania | Urban | 54.4% |
๐ฒ๐ท Mauritania | Rural | 28.7% |
๐ฒ๐ฟ Mozambique | Urban | 65.2% |
๐ฒ๐ฟ Mozambique | Rural | 13.7% |
๐ณ๐ฆ Namibia | Urban | 74.9% |
๐ณ๐ฆ Namibia | Rural | 48.2% |
๐ณ๐ช Niger | Urban | 65.8% |
๐ณ๐ช Niger | Rural | 7.7% |
๐ณ๐ฌ Nigeria | Urban | 39.9% |
๐ณ๐ฌ Nigeria | Rural | 17.7% |
๐จ๐ฌ Republic of the Congo | Urban | 69.2% |
๐จ๐ฌ Republic of the Congo | Rural | 19.1% |
๐ท๐ผ Rwanda | Urban | 45.5% |
๐ท๐ผ Rwanda | Rural | 5.0% |
๐ธ๐น Sรฃo Tomรฉ and Prรญncipe | Urban | 40.1% |
๐ธ๐น Sรฃo Tomรฉ and Prรญncipe | Rural | 24.7% |
๐ธ๐ณ Senegal | Urban | 87.5% |
๐ธ๐ณ Senegal | Rural | 59.0% |
๐ธ๐ฑ Sierra Leone | Urban | 24.6% |
๐ธ๐ฑ Sierra Leone | Rural | 9.2% |
๐ธ๐ด Somalia | Urban | 68.1% |
๐ธ๐ด Somalia | Rural | 9.1% |
๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa | Urban | 91.2% |
๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa | Rural | 51.3% |
๐ธ๐ธ South Sudan | Urban | 3.7% |
๐ธ๐ธ South Sudan | Rural | 2.6% |
๐น๐ฟ Tanzania | Urban | 65.9% |
๐น๐ฟ Tanzania | Rural | 19.9% |
๐ฌ๐ฒ The Gambia | Urban | 67.6% |
๐ฌ๐ฒ The Gambia | Rural | 7.6% |
๐น๐ฌ Togo | Urban | 36.8% |
๐น๐ฌ Togo | Rural | 6.7% |
๐บ๐ฌ Uganda | Urban | 42.8% |
๐บ๐ฌ Uganda | Rural | 8.0% |
๐ฟ๐ฒ Zambia | Urban | 56.9% |
๐ฟ๐ฒ Zambia | Rural | 8.6% |
๐ฟ๐ผ Zimbabwe | Urban | 67.9% |
๐ฟ๐ผ Zimbabwe | Rural | 12.9% |
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.
Whatโs 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 werenโt in school in 2019, and of those children, almost 500,000 were female.

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.
Money
Mapped: A Snapshot of Wealth in Africa
Total private wealth in Africa is now estimated to be US$2.1 trillion. This map looks at where all that wealth is concentrated around the continent.

Mapped: A Snapshot of Wealth in Africa
The continent of Africa contains more than 50 countries, but just five account for more than half of total wealth on the continent: South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, and Kenya.
Despite recent setbacks in Africa’s largest economies, wealth creation has been strong in a number of areas, and total private wealth is now estimated to be US$2.1 trillion. There also an estimated 21 billionaires in Africa today.
Drawing from the latest Africa Wealth Report, here’s a look at where all that wealth is concentrated around the continent.
A Country-Level Look at Wealth in Africa
South Africa is a still a major stronghold of wealth in Africa, with a robust luxury real estate market and ample wealth management services. The country is also ranked second on the continent in per capita wealth. That said, the country has faced challenges in recent years.
An estimated 4,500 high net worth individuals (wealth of US$1 million or more) have left South Africa over the past decade, migrating to places like the UK, Australia, and the United States. In one stark data point, the report points out that “there are 15 South African born billionaires in the world, but only 5 of them still live in South Africa.”
Here is how major African countries compare in terms of per capita wealth.
Rank | Country | Wealth per Capita (US$) |
---|---|---|
#1 | ๐ฒ๐บ Mauritius | $34,000 |
#2 | ๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa | $10,970 |
#3 | ๐ณ๐ฆ Namibia | $9,320 |
#4 | ๐ง๐ผ Botswana | $7,880 |
#5 | ๐ฒ๐ฆ Morocco | $3,380 |
#6 | ๐ช๐ฌ Egypt | $3,000 |
#7 | ๐ฌ๐ญ Ghana | $1,890 |
#8 | ๐ฐ๐ช Kenya | $1,700 |
#9 | ๐ฆ๐ด Angola | $1,620 |
#10 | ๐จ๐ฎ Cรดte d'Ivoire | $1,610 |
#11 | ๐ณ๐ฌ Nigeria | $1,100 |
#12 | ๐น๐ฟ Tanzania | $940 |
#13 | ๐ท๐ผ Rwanda | $850 |
#14 | ๐บ๐ฌ Uganda | $820 |
#15 | ๐ฟ๐ฒ Zambia | $760 |
#16 | ๐ฒ๐ฟ Mozambique | $650 |
#17 | ๐ช๐น Ethiopia | $540 |
Mauritius is Africa’s wealthiest nation on a per capita basis. Here are a few reasons why the island nation comes out on top:
- HNWI growth – Wealthy individuals have flocked to Mauritius in recent years
- Ease of doing business – Mauritius ranked 13th worldwide in World Bankโs Doing Business Report
- Low taxes – There is no inheritance tax or capital gains tax in the country
- Safety – Mauritius was recently rated by New World Wealth as the safest country in Africa
- Financial sector – A growing local financial services sector and stock market (SEMDEX)
As a result, Mauritius has seen the strongest growth in total private wealth over the past decade, followed by Rwanda and Ethiopia.
On the flip side of the equation, Nigeriaโwhich is Africa’s largest economyโsaw a steep drop in total wealth. The country has struggled in recent years with high unemployment, corruption, and an over-reliance on crude oil.
The Big Picture
Over time, African countries are becoming less dependent on extractive industries, and business conditions are continuing to improve nearly across the board. These tailwinds, combined with the continent’s favorable demographics, point to a bright economic future for Africa.
The outlook for private wealth on the continent is largely positive as well. Total private wealth held in Africa is expected to reach US$3 trillion by 2031, an increase of close to 40%.
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