November 26, 2018

Towards sustainable and inclusive African cities

editor:	Bob Koigi

In Mali’s capital Bamako, up to 2 million city residents do not have decent housing, crucial services they need for existence or jobs. Yet Bamako is a microcosm of the urbanization nightmare in Sub Saharan Africa which has been cited as the world’s fastest urbanizing region.

Studies indicate that Africa’s urban areas hosts 472 million people, a number poised to double in the next 25 years. This population explosion has put a strain on limited amenities including housing, transport, water and sanitation. Pundits however opine that these cities are catalysts of industrialization if players spoke in one voice.

And so the just concluded Eighth Africities Summit, a flagship initiative of the United Cities and Local Government, UCLG, congregated over 5,000 delegates spanning local, regional and national leaders, civil society organizations, trade unions, researchers, academicians and development partners to catalogue African urban challenges while finding homegrown and innovative solutions that align cities ambitions with those of African Union’s development blueprint Agenda 2063.

With a timely theme of “Transition to Sustainable Cities and Territories: The Role of African Territorial Collectivities,” the deliberations that specifically touched on urban housing, SDGs, social policy and climate change have delivered life-changing answers that now breathe new life into the continent’s future. Exchange and country review models where countries like Morocco shared their sustainable cities models including low cost housing and mass transit infrastructure inspire replication across the continent.

And with the pivotal role the youth continue to play in every facet of Africa’s growth and prosperity, the summit has placed young people at the heart of its agenda by profiling their challenges including unemployment, crime and migration while celebrating their gains including innovations and active participation while redefining politics.

In the words of Jean-Pierre Elong Mbassi, CGLU’s secretary general, “African homegrown solutions embody the future that we all want for Africa: development and prosperity.“ The Africities summit gives us the opportunity to invent our future and invite the world to build a sustainable future for us all.”

Photo: Africities.org