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Cities in Africa are growing rapidly and have a critical role to play in their countries’ economic growth. Improving conditions for people and businesses in African cities by aggressively investing in infrastructure and reforming land markets is the key to accelerating economic growth, adding jobs, and improving city competitiveness.

Download the report: http://www.worldbank.org/africascities

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TRANSCRIPT

15 years ago, Rose moved from her rural village to the capital city in search of a better life. She is one of many people moving to a city to be close to opportunities. But her home is in a slum with access to few jobs and services. To harness shared prosperity, Rose and her family need productive jobs, affordable housing, and efficient infrastructure.

Urban population in Africa will double within the next 25 years and reach 1 billion people by 2040. The continent has a one in a lifetime opportunity to get urbanization “right”.

In Africa, concentration of people in cities has not been accompanied by economic density. Typical African cities share three features that constrain urban development: they are crowded, disconnected, and therefore costly.

Compared to Asia and Latin America, Africa’s cities have 40 percent fewer neighbors to interact with and 20 percent more fragmentation near the city center. African cities are also 29 percent more expensive than cities in countries at similar income levels.

To grow economically, as they are growing in size, Africa’s cities must open their doors to the world. They need to specialize in manufacturing and produce more goods and services for trade on regional and international markets. And to achieve that, cities need to offer incentives to investors through agglomeration and higher productivity.

Cities also must become more livable to their residents by offering services, amenities, and housing for the poor and the middle class.

African governments can create cities that work by reforming land markets and regulations and by prioritizing early and coordinated investments in neighborhood infrastructure and services.

Cities in Africa are growing rapidly. Productive and livable cities will open Africa’s doors to the world.