Urbanization and national development planning in Africa

Abstract

Africa is becoming an increasingly urban continent, with the total urban population projected to rise from 40 per cent of Africa’s current population to 50 per cent in less than 20 years, and 60 per cent by 2050. The objective of the present report is to examine the ways to integrate cities and urbanization into national development planning to support inclusive economic development. It builds on the foundation of research and the conceptual framework of the Economic Commission for Africa, the Economic Report on Africa 2017: Urbanization and Industrialization for Africa’s Transformation. Section I of this report outlines the context of national and global development planning in Africa, laying out the rationale for integrating cities and urbanization into such policies, while also examining the lessons learned from historical experiences. Section II provides an exploration of the various ways of integrating urban issues into the national development planning process, looking at the process itself. Section III provides an examination of the national development planning content under the framework of urban issues, broken into three entry points: economic sector targeting, urban productivity and the national urban system. Section IV contains an overview of the lessons learned from all five African case countries, and section V provides final recommendations.