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The current rapid urbanization across the African continent is largely unplanned and "potentially catastrophic," the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA) stressed on Friday.
The remark was made by Thokozile Ruzvidzo, Director of Gender, Poverty and Social Policy Division at the ECA, during a high-level continental meeting that was held under the theme "Accelerating Progress with Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063 in Africa: The local Dimension," which brought together mayors and local authority leaders from around Africa.
"While urbanization inherently enables economic productivity and improvements in social outcomes, and the opportunities for this in Africa are enormous, it does so only when it is planned and managed," Ruzvidzo said.
The ECA official also stressed that the current "business as usual" scenario of urban planning and management in Africa is threatening sustainable development targets raising the need for sub-national authorities including city leaders, who are critical actors to accelerating the implementation of the two Agendas to be fully engaged in related processes.
"Urbanization is one of the mega trends that are transforming the global and African continent's development landscapes irreversibly across the rural-urban continuum," she emphasized, adding while it is costly to act on planning and managing urbanization, it is costlier not to do so in the longer term.
"Inevitably, the world is rapidly moving towards becoming an urban world, so it is imperative to consider how the urban context shapes sustainable development," Ruzvidzo added.
Ruzvidzo further indicated that the global 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, among other things, encourages member states to conduct regular and inclusive reviews of progress at the national and sub-national levels, which are country-led and country-driven.
The high-level continental meeting facilitated an exchange between the UN and sub-national authorities and city leaders on the implementation, follow-up and review of Agendas 2030 and 2063 in Africa, according to the ECA.
African city mayors and officials who have gathered from Ghana, Uganda, and Namibia, among others, also underscored that the meeting enabled them to interactively debate on the critical issues pertaining to the sub-national dimension of Agenda 2030 and 2063, which are easily overshadowed by various national dimensions.
