Ahead of the 2015 AFRICA CEO FORUM, Dr Chris Kirubi offered to anwser the questions of his and our twitter followers on the topic of the urbanisation of Africa. Here is the full transcript.

1. 1. Who is leading the urbanization process:
politics, economics, urbanists, sociologists, scientists
or creatives? @hansatmecity
In many African countries you could say it’s the
Urbanists (mostly existing in International Orga-
nizations) and Economics that push the Urbaniza-
tion agenda. However, not one group is capable
of doing this alone.
Urbanisation is created by various situations and
growths. Whilst we encourage growth, we must
simultaneously ensure services and infrastructure
are capable to withstand growth. Therefore we
must collaborate in our efforts to realize and sus-
tain ourselves and are in need all these arms.
In such a world, where we are becoming global
citizens, we should realise the need for collabora-
tion between various professions to ensure holistic
and suitable endeavours.
2. What have you Kirubi identified as the biggest african
urbanisation challenge and what solutions can you
suggest? @DrTreasurer
Growth of infrastructure and services (water, secu-
rity, transport, health, wastewater management,
and aesthetics, among others) is lagging behind
therefore not enabling us to embrace globaliza-
tion as we should. As Centum this is something
we are trying to accomplish in Kenya and East
Africa. Partnerships with the Government are es-
sential for this and we promote teaming up with
as many capable people to do and increase the
general level of capacity of Kenyans.
We need to step away from the notion of North-
South dependency and find local solutions that
adhere to our culture and possibilities and
needs. African Governments need to create
more local partnerships by partnering with
Private Sectors and local people in order to
push the Urbanization Agenda, whilst learning
from mistakes of complete privatisation but
find a balance that works for the context we
are in.
3. Govts seem ill prepared as development sprawls in a
planning vacuum. What’s the business sector doing
about this? @hoseaomole
The business sector led by the Private Sector
is really stepping in to bridge this gap. We see
many Private Sector representatives accompa-
nying Government officials as advisors to key in-
vestment and developmental forums. Collabora-
tive measures such as public private partnerships
are in place now more than ever, but we also
need the private sector and other stakeholders
to align their agendas to the welfare of the state
and build and plan within its boundaries.
@africaceoforum
QA session with Dr. Chris Kirubi,
Centum Investment Group

2. QA session with Dr. Chris Kirubi,
Centum Investment Group
4. What do we need to put in place to ensure this
urbanization doesn’t cannibalize other sectors that fund
the economy? @wawendo
We just need to understand that what every
stakeholder is working towards; the development
of an economy or the country is more or less
under the umbrella of urbanization. Urbanization
in my view cannot cannibalize any other sector.
At the end of the day, we wish for majority of
the African people to live in urban settlements
have good access to infrastructure, water and
sanitation and all this constitutes development.
5. Should the role of urban planners be emphasized in
order to achieve ‘sustainable urbanization’? @jaywatene
YES, most definitely. Urban Planners act as cata-
lysts, drivers of change, motivators, facilitators,
therapists and much more than technical planners.
It is important to understand their role in order to
achieve sustainability and I wish African countries
could take them more seriously. Town planning
in the past has been done primarily by Engineers
and Architects, I wish now them to collaborate
with planners in order to address the social side to
upgrading and the built environment. Let us start
developing for the people by the people and this
is done by Urban Planners.
6. Can African govts sustain infrastructure growth
(devlpmnt maintenance) to match this urbanization?
@Zeddy_M
It is possible, however, currently I believe the
Public Private Partenrships (PPPs) can streng-
then and speed this up as well as appropriate
political partnerships. I would like to stress col-
laboration at all levels, from grassroots, civil
society to Government. We should first look at
what we want, ie look at the Masterplans (that
have been produced with you and by you due
to you participation) and following that, all in-
frastructure will fit into the appropriate plans
leaving us to now create opportunities for
local people and partnerships with the neces-
sary suppliers whilst harnessing the locally pro-
duced materials.
7. What role do you think will startup car firms like @
MobiusMotors, offering cheap mobility, play? @yannick_beyer
Nairobi’s issue is not the lack of cars on the roads,
but the lack of efficient and safe public transport.
Start-ups are encouraged, however they need to fill
a niche or a gap and not add on to the current is-
sues. The question is, are start-ups like Mobius Mo-
tors willing to bridge the gap in public transport?

3. QA session with Dr. Chris Kirubi,
Centum Investment Group
8. What’s the greatest opportunity presented by African
Urbanisation? @symowain
Young entrepreneurs and innovators are the
biggest opportunity. Africa is full of wealth, we
have social innovators, strategic investments
and partnerships, great local ideas and solu-
tions for local problems that just need to be
enhanced on a larger scale…. We need to look
at Africa as a blank canvas- we can achieve
anything as long as we research, experiment
and do it right (not make the same mistakes
as the West).
9. How can we make sure that we overcome the challenges
of lack of transparency accountability in urbanization?
@fred_cheruiyot
Systems need to be in place, Government poli-
cies on awarding of tenders, putting up of struc-
tures, international investments and partnerships
need to be strengthened. On the other hand,
it is equally important to motivate and reward
government employees based on market rates
so as to lower the rate of corruption.
We also need to find a way of sorting out
ethnicity/tribal issues that face many African
countries. This particularly in the urban setting
can hinder growth whereby one group feels
that they ‘own’ a particular city and carry out
most of the ‘big’ business transactions.
10.Does urbanization pose a great threat to our economy
given that it’s rural-based-economy, agriculture? @le_njiru
Why should it when done well? It’s a transfor-
mation of everything; the economy, people’s
livelihoods, politics….meaning even the way
we farm will change for the good of the country
and its people. Technology in agriculture is the
future including finding new ways to farm, to
combat diseases, food security etc.
11.With the devolved governance, what are the roles
played by the major stakeholders to move urbanisation
to the rural setting? @petergicharu5
It’s very simple, by partnering with the leaders in
the various rural towns to enhance development
and urbanization. We need to de-congest our
cities and that is if we can cultivate the culture of
urbanization and participate in it.
Devolution means decentralization. We need
to move Nairobi from being the centre of eve-
rything and begin urbanizing and enriching
other towns in Kenya.