Urbanization and Socio-Economic Development in Africa
The main goal of this book is to put urbanization and its challenges squarely on Africas development agenda. Planned urbanization can improve living conditions for the majority, help in the expansion of the middle class, and create conditions for economic transformation. However, many African cities have developed haphazardly, resulting in the decline of public services, in slum proliferation, and increases in poverty. African cities thrive on activities characterized by easy entry and low productivity, generally referred to as the informal sector. Indeed, today some urban dwellers are poorer than their cousins in the countryside. In spite of reform attempts, many governments have not been able to create an enabling environment, with adequate infrastructure and institutions to sustain markets for easy exchange and production. This study argues that with careful policies and planning, the situation can be changed. If the recent natural resource-led economic boom that we have seen in many African countries is used for structural reforms and urban renewal, African cities could become centers of economic opportunity. The challenge for African policymakers is to ensure that urban development is orderly and that the process is inclusive and emphasizes the protection of the environment, hence green growth.
Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa is Director in the Development and Research Department at African Development Bank.
Abebe Shimeles is Division Manager in the Development and Research Department at African Development Bank.
Nadge Dsire Yamogo is Senior Research Economist in the Development and Research Department at African Development Bank.
Routledge African Studies
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5 Close to the Sources
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6 Landscape and Environment in Colonial and Postcolonial Africa
Edited by Toyin Falola and Emily Brownell
7 Development, Modernism and Modernity in Africa
Edited by Augustine Agwuele
8 Natural Resources, Conflict, and Sustainable Development
Lessons from the Niger Delta
Edited by Okechukwu Ukaga, Ukoha O. Ukiwo and Ibaba Samuel Ibaba
9 Regime Change and Succession Politics in Africa
Five Decades of Misrule
Edited by Maurice Nyamanga Amutabi and Shadrack Wanjala Nasongo
10 The Political Economy of Development and Underdevelopment in Africa
Edited by Toyin Falola and Jessica Achberger
11 Pan-Africanism, and the Politics of African Citizenship and Identity
Edited by Toyin Falola and Kwame Essien
12 Securing Africa
Local Crises and Foreign Interventions
Edited by Toyin Falola and Charles Thomas
13 African Youth in Contemporary Literature and Popular Culture
Identity Quest
Edited by Vivian Yenika-Agbaw and Lindah Mhando
14 Indigenous Discourses on Knowledge and Development in Africa
Edited by Edward Shizha and Ali A. Abdi
15 African Culture and Global Politics
Language, Philosophies, and Expressive Culture in Africa and the Diaspora
Edited by Toyin Falola and Danielle Porter Sanchez
16 Urbanization and Socio-Economic Development in Africa
Challenges and Opportunities
Edited by Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa, Abebe Shimeles and Nadge Dsire Yamogo
First published 2014
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Urbanization and socio-economic development in Africa : challenges and opportunities / edited by Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa, Abebe Shimeles and Nadge Dsire Yamogo.
pages cm. (Routledge African studies ; 16)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. UrbanizationEconomic aspectsAfrica. 2. Urban policyAfrica. 3. Community development, Urban Africa. 4. Rural-urban migrationAfrica. 5. AfricaEconomic conditions1960 I. Kayizzi-Mugerwa, Steve, editor of compilation. II. Abebe Shimeles, editor of compilation. III. Yamogo, Nadge Dsire, editor of compilation. IV. Series: Routledge African studies ; 16.
HT384.A35U7293 2014
307.76096dc23
2013050196
ISBN13: 978-1-138-01681-1 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-1-315-78002-3 (ebk)
Africa has experienced rapid urban growth in recent times, but this is yet to generate any observable structural transformation. In many regions of the world, urban expansion has been associated with structural transformation and improvement in living conditions. For Sub-Saharan African cities, urban growth has instead stretched the existing basic infrastructure, resulting in a decline in the quality of public services, growth of informal settlements and increased urban poverty. It is estimated that more than half of Sub-Saharan Africas urban citizens live in slums. Several reasons explain the situation.
Firstly, most African cities lack the institutional, financial and political capacity to deal with the growth in their populations. Inadequate urban land markets coupled with informal land tenure systems have also contributed to slum proliferation and increases in urban poverty and inequality. While Africas future economic success will depend on efficient and productive urban centres, most African governments continue to under-invest in the infrastructure for urban development. Generally, governments have failed to create an enabling environment where economic agents can meet and exchange easily, and workers and productive inputs can move efficiently.
Secondly, contrary to patterns in fast-growing emerging economies, notably in Asia, where economic development has been driven by manufacturing, most African economies have remained basic commodity producers, with low productivity. Yet, it is well known that economic development of cities and towns depends on their efficiency and productivity. While noting the emergence of other factors in explaining the recent growth in the continent, commodities still remain a big part of the story. Manufacturing or services are yet to emerge as dynamic sources of growth. African cities have likewise relied on activities with low productivity, notably in the informal sector, and have not been able to provide sufficient economic opportunities to urban dwellers. This has led to increasing poverty, slum proliferation, and social tensions and instability. The future development and success of Africas cities and towns will depend on the efficiency and productivity of urban production.
