The night skyline of the city of Kigali, Rwanda. With two-thirds of Africans expected to live in cities by 2050, how the continent urbanises will be critical to its growth and development, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has said. PHOTO | GILBERT MWIJUKE
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The approach, experts say, includes stepping up investment in urban infrastructure, improving connectivity with rural areas, better matching formal real estate markets with the housing demand by clarifying land rights, managing the growth of intermediary cities, and improving the provision of infrastructure and services within and between cities. Such investments need to be accompanied by productive formal employment – especially for the youth – and sufficient public goods.
With two-thirds of Africans expected to live in cities by 2050, how the continent urbanises will be critical to its growth and development, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said Monday.
In its African Economic Outlook 2016 released on Monday during its 51st annual meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, the AfDB also said that Africa’s economy held firm last year amid global headwinds and regional shocks. The continent remained the second fastest growing economic region after East Asia.
According to the report, Africa’s economy is expected to grow 3.7 per cent this year and pick up to 4.5 per cent in 2017, provided that the world economy strengthens and commodity prices gradually recover.
“African countries, which include top worldwide growth champions, have shown remarkable resilience in the face of global economic adversity,” Abebe Shimeles, AfDB’s the acting director Development Research Department said.
“Turning Africa’s steady resilience into better lives for Africans requires strong policy action to promote faster and more inclusive growth,” he added.
According to the report, lack of urban planning leads to costly urban sprawl.
In Accra, Ghana, for example, the population nearly doubled between 1991 and 2000, increasing from 1.3 million to 2.5 million inhabitants at an average annual growth rate of 7.2 per cent. During the same period, the built up area of Accra tripled, increasing from 10 thousand hectares to 32 thousand hectares by an average annual rate of 12.8 per cent.
But two-thirds of the investments in urban infrastructure until 2050 have yet to be made. This presents a window for wide-ranging urban policies to turn African cities and towns into engines of growth and sustainable development for the continent as a whole.
“Africa’s ongoing, multi-faceted urban transition and the densification it produces offer new opportunities for improving economic and social development while protecting the environment in a holistic manner. These openings can be better harnessed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals – especially SDG 11 on sustainable cities and communities – and the objectives of the African Union’s Agenda 2063,” said Mario Pezzini, the director and acting director of the OECD Development Centre and the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate respectively.
With adequate policies, analysts see urbanisation as key to helping advance economic development through higher agricultural productivity, industrialisation, services stimulated by the growth of the middle class, and foreign direct investment in urban corridors.
It also can promote social development through safer and inclusive urban housing and robust social safety nets.
“The benefits could accrue for both urban and rural dwellers, provided governments adopt an integrated approach,” Mr Pezzini said.
This approach, experts say, includes stepping up investment in urban infrastructure, improving connectivity with rural areas, better matching formal real estate markets with the housing demand by clarifying land rights, managing the growth of intermediary cities, and improving the provision of infrastructure and services within and between cities.
Such investments need to be accompanied by productive formal employment – especially for the youth – and sufficient public goods.
Last year, approximately 879 million Africans lived in countries with low human development, while 295 million lived in medium and high human development countries. Africa’s youth are particularly at risk from slow human progress. In sub-Saharan Africa, nine out of 10 working youth are poor or near poor.
“We need to invest in building economic opportunities, for women, 92 per cent of whom work in the informal sector,” said Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, director of the Regional Bureau for Africa at the UNDP.
The report points out that expanding cities are hubs for present and future work, but the nature of work is becoming more technology intensive. Work provides incomes and livelihoods and is therefore an integral part of human development.
Work can enhance human development by helping to reduce inequality, securing livelihoods and empowering individuals. But globalisation and technical progress are changing the world of work.
The digital revolution has influenced productivity and work opportunities in Africa, which increasingly require access to mobile phones and Internet services. This is the case for emerging high-tech industries and the service sector, as well as informal activities facilitated by mobile phones and services.
Unequal access to digital services, especially for women, youth and informal settlements, is generating barriers to work that have an impact on present and future human development.
Estimates show that only 19.3 per cent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa uses the Internet, with imbalances found between women and men and rural and urban areas.
“As African countries continue to prioritise infrastructure development, distributional imperatives must be addressed up front to prevent uneven access from perpetuating existing inequalities,” the report underscores.
Barriers to work are compounded by low skills, particularly for youth, creating a challenge for the generation of present and future work opportunities in the region.
A healthy and educated workforce is critical to productivity and economic growth. Yet, youth in sub-Saharan Africa have the lowest literacy rates of any region: Only 62.7 per cent for women and 74.7 per cent for men.
