Africa is experiencing rapid urbanization and population growth. Many cities lack adequate infrastructure for water, sanitation, transportation, and electricity. While access to services has improved over the past decade, infrastructure investment has not kept pace with need. Future approaches to infrastructure development in African cities must address the large investment backlog, promote compact urban form to reduce sprawl, ensure universal access to basic services, and develop economic infrastructure to support job creation and a transition to low-carbon development.

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African Urban Development Context
EDGAR PIETERSE | URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE SYMPOSIUM | 21 JULY 2015
• Urbanisation
• Infrastructure
• Selected implications

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KEY URBANISATION TRENDS
Africa has at least 120 cities of over half a million
residents and 47 of over a million, spread out among 54
countries.

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Africa has the most aggressive demographic trajectory,
coupled to the fastest rate of urbanisation
Source: WWF, 2012

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Urbanisation and econ development in Latin America
Urbanisation and economic development in Africa
Source: World Development Indicators, in Turok, 2013
Note: The data correspond to changes between 1985 and 2012 for each country
For all world regions, urbanisation is positively
associated with economic growth, except for SSA…
World Economic Output Over 50 Years, 1984-2034 (2005 PPP dollars)

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Africa GDP Per Capita income trends by region, 2005-2050
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Thousanddollarspercapita(PPP)
Year
2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 2028 2032 2036 2040 2044 2048
AFPCentral Africa AFPEastern Africa AFPNorthern Africa
AFPSouthern Africa AFPWestern Africa
Source: Pardee Centre & Institute for Security Studies, 2011
Strangely, low growth up to the 1990s was also coupled to
rising inequality, which is very unusual given the low levels
of industrial development and low GDP/Capita
0(
0,1(
0,2(
0,3(
0,4(
0,5(
0,6(
Africa( Asia(( LAC( ESCWA(
Gini(C.( 0,54( 0,4( 0,55( 0,38(
Gini$Co'efficient$
Alert Line: 0,4

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The depth and extent of income poverty in Africa is
profound… which makes any simplistic growth-first
prescriptions misplaced
According to African Finance Yearbook, 2013 on 3% of SSA
households qualified for mortgage finance
60,8%
20,9%
8,7%
4,7%
4,8%
36,5%
24,0%
9,9%
10,8%
18,8%
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
70,0%
(<$2/day)
($2-$4/day)
($4-$10/day)
($10-$20/day)
(>$20/day)
Poor
Floating
Lower-Middle
Upper-Middle
Rich
Population
Income
According to a 2011 AfDB report, 81% of Africans survive on
less that $4/day

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!"
!2.00
!4.00
!6.00
!8.00
!10.00
!12.00
!14.00
!16.00
!18.00
US$!'000s/capita/yr!PPP
GDP$per$capita$of$31$largest$cities$in$Sub7Saharan$
Africa
Pretoria;!Jo'burg
Kinshasa;!Harare
But, there is enormous variation between cities…
24
28
65
63
11
9
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2000
2010
Stable employment
Vulnerable employment
Unemployment
Source:InternationalLabourOrganisation&McKinseyGlobalInstituteanalysis
Employment status in Africa, 2000 & 2010
Note: Stable employment includes wage and salaried employees and business
owners. Vulnerable employment includes subsistence farming, informal self-
employment and work for family members.

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72 69 65
75
38
77
28 31 35
25
62
23
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
East Asia South-east
Asia
Southern
Asia
Western Asia SSA Latin
America &
Carr
Slum
Non-slum
The combination of limited decent employment, low incomes
& limited infrastructure investment over decades manifest in
slum urbanism
Inverted economy:
majority non-
formal
Low & erratic
HH incomes
Small tax base
Insufficient private
& public
investments
Skewed
allocation
systems
Demand for
services outstrip
supply
SLUM PRODUCING LOGICS Pieterse 2014

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Implication: The inability to generate
sufficient wage-earning jobs means that
most households will be unable to afford
living in a formal house, pay taxes or
contest the “rules of the game” when it
comes to formal politics…
proposed: Cité du Fleuve, Kinshasa
Infrastructure

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Only N African countries,
South Africa and island
states are doing well.
AFDB INFRASTRUCTURE
DEVELOPMENT INDEX FOR
AFRICAN CITIES
Water Supply
Data gathered in urban areas
between the years 2005 and
2009 indicate that 41% of the
population have access to
piped water, 28% to public
taps, 22% to wells and
boreholes, 5% to vendors and
3% use surface water for
consumption.
(Jacobsen, Webster &
Vairavamoorthy, 2012).

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Sanitation – 39% of urban dwellers have
inadequate sanitation
• 28% of the urban population
uses flush toilets and septic
tanks, 34% use improved
traditional latrines, 30% use
traditional latrines and 9% use
no facilities and use open pits or
the natural environment
(Jacobsen, Webster &
Vairavamoorthy, 2012).
• A traditional latrine is
considered unsatisfactory. It
consists of an unimproved pit
latrine, bucket or hanging latrine
with no protection against flies
entering or leaving the latrine.
Roads & public transport
In a study of 14 African cities, Kumar
and Barrett (2008) found the situation
with roads and public transport to be
poor in all cases: “Road congestion is a
problem in all cities. Its causes are poor
management of traffic flow, inadequate
parking, and weak enforcement. Having
evolved over the years without
adequate planning, the cities are unable
to cope with growing motorisation. Less
than half of all roads are paved,
reducing accessibility for buses in
densely populated neighbourhoods and
outlying areas. Paved roads are just
one-third of the average for cities in the
developing world … “

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Elecricity
621 million people in Sub-
Saharan Africa did not have
access to electricity. 59 % of
urban inhabitants had access to
electricity, while this number
was significantly lower (almost
16%) in rural areas (IEA, 2014).
30 Sub-Saharan African
countries experience regular
power shortages (UN-Habitat,
2014).
But, infrastructure is improving
AFDB INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT INDEX FOR AFRICAN CITIES

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Significant improvement over the past 10 years
in the provision of services in SSA
• Water supply increased from 135 million people to almost
200 million people from 1999 to 2009
• The provision of adequate sanitation increased from 107
million people to 180 million people between 1999 and 2009
• Electricity access increased from 24% in 2002 to 29% in
2008 for all Sub-Saharan Africans, with urban access
increasing from 52% to 58%. (Jacobsen, Webster &
Vairavamoorthy, 2012 and IEA, 2014)
Note: the absolute number of people who have access to adequate
services is more important than the relative proportion, as the
increased rate of urbanisation often skews the relative proportions.
0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0%
S.Saharan-Africa
Mid.-East-&-N.-Afr
South-Asia
East-Asia
S.America
N.-America
E.U
%"of"GDP
!" !200 !400 !600
S.Saharan!Africa
Mid.!East!&!N.!Afr
South!Asia
East!Asia
S.America
N.!America
E.U
48!
200!
145!
200!
38!
129!
150!
45!
44!
48!
201!
44!
133!
50!
Deficit'vs'Spend
Deficit Spend
Current annual infrastructure spend only meets 45% of annual
investment and maintenance needs in low and middle income
countries

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Africa’s Infrastructure Approach must
address:
• The enormous infrastructure investment imperative
given the scale of deficit and need
• How infrastructure & urban form will come
together: arrest and reverse inefficient sprawl
• Ensure universal access to basic services that are
affordable
• Ensure suitable economic infrastructure to sustain
a transition to a low-carbon economy, whilst
maximising employment opportunities
Status quo:
small middle-class
gated enclaves &
slum neglect
Green status quo:
gated enclaves,
new towns, pockets
of greening & slum
upgrading
Smart African city:
smart grids & mobility
reform, compaction,
slum upgrading
Adaptive city:
smart & mini grids,
appropriate-tech, full
access, localised slum
economic & ecosystem
renewal
AFFORDABLE &
INCLUSIVE
UNAFFORDABLE &
EXCLUSIVE
UNAFFORDABLE &
SEMI INCLUSIVE
(Pieterse,(2015)

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