Bangladesh: Building a sanitation business, Rokshana’s story

In 2018, Begum Rokshana Akter Banu was working as a Brand Promoter for WSUP in Rangpur, Bangladesh. Seeing the clear, urgent need for reliable toilet-emptying services in her community, she decided to take an unconventional path and start her own business. Partnering with a co-founder, Rokshana launched Shafi Enterprise. Starting with a single Vacutac desludging machine, a small office, and a team of five workers, she entered the male-dominated faecal sludge management sector. Today, her business services around 40 toilets every month, providing safe, hygienic waste disposal for more than 12,000 people across local households, schools, and factories. This is Rokshana's story on the realities of running a sanitation enterprise. LEARN MORE & SUPPORT For more information on WSUP’s ongoing work and utility-strengthening initiatives in Bangladesh, please visit: https://wsup.com/where-we-work/bangla...