New Book Reveals Untapped Opportunities for Domestic Investments in Water and Sanitation for the Poor

What steps are needed to enable the domestic private sector to expand its role in the provision of safe water and improved sanitation to the poor in developing countries? Is an expanded role constrained because of limited market potential, are business models unable to support an expansion of supply, or do government policy and the broader climate for investment inhibit enterprises?

A new book, Tapping the Markets: Opportunities for Domestic Investments in Water and Sanitation for the Poor, seeks to answer these questions, presenting the results of a detailed examination of market opportunities for the domestic private sector in the provision of piped water and on-site sanitation services in rural and semi-urban areas and of the commercial, policy, and investment climate factors that affect the response to these opportunities. Based on a multi-country study, reports that cooperation between the public and private sectors in service provision to the poor not only holds enormous development dividends for the millions living at the “Base of the Pyramid,” but also presents a huge market potential for businesses.

The study shows the market for clean water in Bangladesh, Benin, and Cambodia alone is worth at least US$90 million a year, while the market for improved on-site sanitation services in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Peru, and Tanzania is estimated to be worth US$2.6 billion. Both figures represent only a small fraction of the market potential waiting to be tapped by domestic investments in water and sanitation.

The book is available for free via ISSUU or to download as PDF. Hardcopies are available through World Bank Publications/InfoShop and Amazon. A conference edition was released in August 2013 at World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden.

See also the Tapping the Markets infographics for Water and Sanitation.

For more information, please visit www.wsp.org or contact the authors at worldbankwater@worldbank.org