Abstract

The target year for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is less than 5 years from now. World over, 785 million people still lack even a basic drinking water service, and approximately one third of countries of the world, including Nigeria, have medium or high levels of water stress (UN, 2023). Perhaps, the strongest challenge in the water sector is the arrangement for sourcing and management of funds into the sector. This study assessed the financial framework for sourcing and managing the funding of the urban water sector in Southwestern Nigeria. The study adopted a case study and contrast approach where low, medium, and high-density communities were selected and surveyed, while the Water Boards and Community-Based Organizations – CBOs were also examined. The current financial framework for the urban water sector in the study area reflects more of government bureaucratic activity without proper involvement of private organizations. Private individuals and communities usually intervened in a selfhelp and uncoordinated manner, therefore having negative effects on fund coordination and the efficiency of water supply in the region. The tested hypothesis using ANOVA revealed significant variations in the current framework across the study areas (in-between-groups variation (794.481) substantially higher than the within-groups variation (1673.923), resulting in a large F-value of 49.895. Multi-level governance, Community/Private Sector-Led Initiatives, Water Financial Management Regulatory Board, and the institution of Water Finance Disaster and Risk Management Policies were recommended as a framework for Urban Water Finance Management in the region.

Copyright of the paper named above is hereby assigned and transferred to the Nigerian Journal of Applied Science and Innovative Technology published by College of Engineering, Bells University of Technology, Nigeria.