In Africa, shift to cities could drive growth

A busy Luwum street, one of the congested streets in Kampala, Uganda due to population increase. PHOTO FILE | NATION 

In Summary

• In its 2017 Economic Report on Africa launched in Kigali recently, UN commission notes that while rising urbanisation in Africa creates growing challenges in terms of infrastructure and services, it can also drive industrial development under the right policies.
• To unlock the full potential of urbanisation for industrialisation, synergistic opportunities arising from the two need to be articulated in national development plans.
• According to the African Development Bank, 40 per cent of Africans live in urban areas, up from 15 per cent in 1950, and the number is expected to rise to 56 per cent by 2050.

By VICTOR KIPROP
More by this Author

As more people move to urban areas in Africa, the United Nations wants governments to use the numbers to drive industrialisation.

In its 2017 Economic Report on Africa launched in Kigali recently, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) notes that while rising urbanisation in Africa creates growing challenges in terms of infrastructure and services, it can also drive industrial development under the right policies.

“A key conclusion is that under the right policy framework, anchored in national development planning, African countries can leverage the momentum of urbanisation to accelerate industrialisation for a more prosperous and equitable future,” said ECA executive secretary Abdalla Hamdok.

The report also emphasised that reconnecting urban and industrial development in Africa is a priority for the sustainability of both cities and industries.
“Cities require better performing industrialisation and industrialisation requires better functioning cities,” said Mr Hamdok. “Systematic efforts are needed to link urban and industrial development in the context of national development planning.”

While urbanisation has been a key economic driver with new businesses attracting both industry workers and professionals who then fuel consumption and grow the economy in Western countries, rural to urban migration in Africa has largely been characterised by unskilled workers.

“African urbanisation has not been driven by improving agricultural productivity or increased industrial output, as has been the case elsewhere,” said ECA deputy executive secretary Giovanie Biha.

“On the contrary, it has been dominated by the expansion of the informal sector — often services.”

According to the study, nearly half of Africa’s population will be living in urban areas by 2035, presenting rising demand for employment, services and infrastructure, but creating advantages for economic growth.

To unlock the full potential of urbanisation for industrialisation, the report said, synergistic opportunities arising from the two need to be articulated in national development plans.

READ: Rural-urban exodus slows fight against hunger

Job creation
The report also urges policy makers to diversify job creation by boosting local manufacturing and for industrial development across different secondary cities to leverage on regional strengths.

Rwanda, Ethiopia and Uganda have been singled out as being among countries that have focused on growing smaller secondary cities, while Kenya, Egypt and South Africa have prioritised building new cities with modern infrastructure, to ease congestion in megacities.

According to the African Development Bank, 40 per cent of Africans live in urban areas, up from 15 per cent in 1950, and the number is expected to rise to 56 per cent by 2050.

Nigeria’s Lagos, Egypt’s Cairo and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kinshasa with 21 million, 20.4 million and 13.3 million people respectively, are Africa’s most populous cities according to the World Atlas.

READ: Danger in East Africa’s unequal growth patterns

ALSO READ: Standards can help build sustainable smart cities