Afrobarometer: 56% of Moroccans Approve of Government’s Water and Sanitation Efforts

Doha – Morocco has made significant strides in improving access to clean water and sanitation for its citizens, but challenges remain, particularly for rural and poor populations, according to the latest Afrobarometer survey.

The survey, conducted in 39 African countries between 2021 and 2023, found that Morocco ranks among the top performers in terms of access to piped water and sanitation systems. However, the country still has room for improvement in ensuring universal access to these essential services.

In Morocco, 88% of enumeration areas visited by Afrobarometer field teams had access to a piped water system, placing the country among the top performers in the survey. Additionally, 72% of these areas had sewage systems that most houses could access, ranking Morocco third behind Tunisia (79%) and South Africa (69%).

At the household level, 95% of Moroccans reported having toilets inside their homes, a figure surpassed only by Tunisia (97%). However, 3% of Moroccan respondents said they had experienced a shortage of clean water “many times” or “always” during the previous year, while 7% reported experiencing water shortages “several times.” Notably, 79% of respondents said they had never gone without enough clean water.

Public perception of the government’s handling of water and sanitation services in Morocco is relatively positive, with 56% of respondents saying the government is performing “fairly well” or “very well” in this area. This approval rating marks a 16-percentage-point increase from the 2011-2013 survey round.

Additionally, the report indicates that Morocco is among the countries with the lowest proportion of respondents (9%) citing water supply as a top priority, suggesting that water issues may be less pressing in Morocco compared to other African nations surveyed.

Despite these encouraging figures, the Afrobarometer report highlights persistent disparities in access to water and sanitation between urban and rural areas and across different economic groups in Africa. Poor and rural populations consistently lag behind their urban and wealthier counterparts in access to piped water, sanitation systems, and in-home toilets.

Across the 39 surveyed countries, water supply ranks as the fourth most important problem that citizens want their governments to address. On average, 56% of respondents reported experiencing a shortage of clean water at least once during the previous year, with 24% saying this happened “many times” or “always.”

The report also notes that progress toward universal access to safe water and sanitation has been slow across the continent, despite governments’ commitments to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. Climate change poses an additional challenge, with prolonged droughts threatening both agriculture and household water supplies.