“We are the shinning city on the high plains of this great continent, on which the eyes of all who seek fortune and opportunity are fixed.” These are the words of former Mayor of Johannesburg Mayor, Parks Tau.  He maybe be talking about the city of gold but this description is apt and will resonate with his colleagues from Dakar to Doula. 

Africa’s next frontier of growth and development will come from our cities. I was reminded about all this in recent days as news of South African government’s plan to develop a major city in the beautiful coastal town of Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape came to light. Done correctly, this can revitalise this neglected part of our country and thrust it firmly in the national conscious as a place for growth. It’s a place endowed with breath-taking beauty and splendour.

 Economies of some African countries rely heavily on the economy of its main cities. One study says Lagos’s GDP is 62.3 of Nigeria’s non-oil GDP. According to one credit rating agency, Kampala account for approximately 80% of industrial and commercial activity and contribute a staggering 65% to the country’s GDP. This clearly demonstrates that Uganda’s economic growth is tied to prosperity of its capital city. 

Cities are highly complex and require a long-term horizon planning and city managers who can take a long-term view. Poor management of African cities will hamper any prospects of growth for this continent.  Many cities in Africa are faced with challenges of poverty, violence, squalor and worryingly high youth unemployment. Despite these challenges African cities will determine whether the continent will experience its growth trajectory in a sustained manner or will they be centres of poverty and hopelessness. About 80% of world’s output is produced in cities and future jobs will be created in cities. 

Cities are the future and Africa must look at how city economies can be centres of job creation for young people. Well managed cities will be an oasis of hope for the African continent. The bustling African city, with its young population provide the platform to create economic growth and prosperity for many of the continents poor. The popular narrative about the growing economies of African countries always misses to look at the African city. Cities are the real engines of growth for Africa and due to rapid urbanisation; African cities are the heartbeat of trade and commerce. Cities are facing mounting pressure as the onset of inward migration reaches unpresented levels in the entire history of humankind. 

 The African urban population growth is massive. A report published by PWC a few years ago, titled “Into Africa. The Continent’s Cities of Opportunity” reveals that Africa has 120 cities of over half a million residents and 47 of over a million. Lagos, the commercial hub of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country has seen its population explode to current levels of 11 million and is project to reach 17 million in 2025. Kinshasa, the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo is project to grow to 15 million people by 2025. The story is the same across the continent. 

The growing population will cause a major strain in city resources as new infrastructure like housing, transportation and energy will need to be built. Building that infrastructure will require a lot of resources and presents a major opportunity for the private sector. On the other hand, new city dwellers are making purchases for goods and services driving consumption to unprecedented levels. For private sector, growing city populations will spawn a montage of opportunities as new residents consume various products like fridges, TV sets and other household consumables. This is where I think our continent has a gilt edge opportunity to redraw the contours of development and move from the margins to the centre. 

This growth story should be the basis of developing thriving local enterprises. Who produces, who retails, who transport the IT backbone of this development should all be from local companies to ensure meaningful and real growth. The 2011 McKinsey Global Institute study found that one of the issues fuelling growth is declining household size. “We anticipate that the number of households in Sub-Sahara Africa and China region will approximately double by 2025. A major reason for this surge in the number of urban households is a global trend towards smaller households sizes driven by demographic shifts and altered behaviour. Young adults who used to live with their parents may be living on their own earlier than they used to.”

 This potential of African cities has thrust them into the radar of government officials. Due to rapid migration and the importance of cities in economic growth, city governments in the continent have been laying out plans for major infrastructure roll-out. This is another opportunity to grow wealth and sustain thriving local enterprise. Growth without local enterprise is false and only meaningful from employment perspective. South African government through its national department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has drafted a ground breaking Integrated Urban Development Framework which seeks to guide and galvanise urban planning to break-away from apartheid urban form into structured equitable future. 

It envisages an integrated urban infrastructure, which is resource efficient and provides for both universal access and more inclusive economic growth, needs to be extensive and strong enough to meet industrial, commercial and household needs, and should also be planned in a way that supports the development of an efficient and equitable urban form and facilitates access to social and economic opportunities. For years, Tanzanian capital city, Dar es Salam has had major planning problems. This is largely because of neglect and poor city planning. The cities master plan expired in 1979 and as a result of that vacuum; Dar es Salaam has many of its residents leaving in informal and unplanned settlements. 

East African giant, Kenya has a new technology city 60km from Nairobi. The new city aptly named African Silicon Savannah will take years to build and billions of dollars. But this new city is already a preferred spot for many tech savvy young people and will create new economic opportunities for Kenya’s growing number of young people. It is projected to create 200 000 jobs by 2030. Another African country planning a new city is Tunisia. Tunisia Economic City will be 100km from Tunis, its capital. 

It will be a city strong in tourism, culture, education and commerce. Abidjan the main city of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, has the ambitious Aerocity and going through major renovations in its main educational institution, University of Felix Houphouet-Boigny. Moroccan capital, Casablanca has 24 000m2 Grand Theatre de Casablanca. African cities need to be upgraded and renovated for them to play a meaningful role. It’s no surprise all this is happening, cities in Africa will provide the axles on which the whole economy will pivot in the future.