Acumen Fund

Quality Sanitation Facilities for the Urban Poor

The IkoToilet sign rises above Uhuru Park, outside Nairobi, Kenya.

As of 2002, only 48% of Kenya’s population had access to basic sanitation services (i.e., toilets). It has been more than 30 years since the government last invested in public sanitation facilities in Nairobi, home to some of the largest and most densely populated informal settlements in the world.
The existing 138 public toilet units in low-income urban settlements are beset by overcrowding, poor lighting, inaccessibility, as well as a general lack of privacy, hygiene and security. Many residents use plastic bags, or “flying toilets,” to dispose of excrement at night, which are commonly thrown from residences into the street. Another common option is a pit latrine, which is a shallow hole that can overflow during periods of heavy rain or flooding. The urban poor, particularly women seeking privacy, will often pay a small fee to use a privately operated, unhygienic pit latrine.
The resulting elevated exposure to waterborne diseases poses a major threat to public and environmental health. Diarrheal disease alone is a top cause of death in Kenyan children under age 5.

Ecotact is a Nairobi-based company that aims to improve the urban landscape for low-income communities through environmentally responsible projects in sanitation and housing.
Under the Ikotoilet project, Ecotact builds and operates high-quality, public, pay-per-use toilet and shower facilities on public land in urban centers. Ecotact uses a Build-Operate-Transfer model of public-private partnership, entering into long-term contracts with municipalities to secure use of public lands.
In exchange for use of public land, the company agrees to bear all facility construction costs but relinquishes ultimate ownership of the facilities to the municipalities. The contracts give Ecotact the right to operate the toilet and shower facilities for a certain number of years and charge user fees. The company hires staff to operate and clean the units after each use, and complements the sanitation offerings with other revenue-generating products such as shoeshine services, soft drink sales and newspaper sales.

Ecotact’s facilities will define a new standard of hygiene in target communities, reducing urban pollution from human waste, generating employment opportunities for low-income individuals, and restoring dignity to the provision of sanitation services among urban poor.
Ecotact plans to replicate its model for 200 facilities across Kenya over the next five years.