Assessment of urbanization data in Africa

Abstract

The importance of urbanization as a driver for inclusive growth and structural transformation in Africa is now well recognized at the global, regional and national levels. At the global level, the inclusion of a stand-alone goal on cities and human settlements in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development is a major milestone. At the regional level, the African Union’s agenda 2063 and the common African position on the post-2015 development agenda both emphasize the role of urbanization in Africa’s vision for transformation. A key objective of the Economic Commission for Africa’s (ECA’s) urbanization program is to support member States in strengthening their urban data and statistics needs for effective policy formulation, implementation and monitoring. This assessment presents the outcomes of the state of urban statistics in Africa, with a view to guiding member states in collecting and analyzing urban statistics within the framework of Africa’s priorities and vision, agenda 2063, and the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. The assessment will strengthen the urban development indicators in the 2020 world population and housing census program, and also strengthen standardization of urban definitions and concepts prescribed in the third revision of the Africa addendum to the principles and recommendations for population and housing censuses.