UK plans African cities centre – Government & civil service news

The UK Centre for Cities and Infrastructure aims to improve cities across Africa, including in Kenya. (Image courtesy: diaznash/Pixabay).

The UK is to set up a specialist
centre that will help to improve the way African cities are planned, built and
run, with the aim of making urban centres more sustainable and reducing poverty.
   

The UK Centre for Cities and
Infrastructure will provide British expertise to African governments
and city authorities and will focus on improvements to infrastructure,
including water and energy networks.

The centre – which is to be
based in the UK, at a location to be announced next year – is backed by £48m
(US$63m) of UK funding. Of this, £30m (US$39) will support projects in
countries across Africa, with the rest earmarked for investment in fast-growing
cities in other parts of the developing world.

The
initiative was announced by UK international development secretary Alok Sharma
on January 14 during a visit to Kenya.

“Our
new UK aid support, announced ahead of the UK-Africa Investment Summit, will
contribute to creating the African cities of the future, using British
expertise to provide quality, green infrastructure across the continent,”
Sharma said.

“Infrastructure
is the backbone of economic growth. It helps the poorest people access basic
services such as clean water and electricity, creates jobs and boosts business.”

City populations on the rise

Attempts to address
Africa’s lack of infrastructure are shifting from the national to city level.
By 2025, there will be 100 African cities with more than one million
inhabitants, according to consultancy firm McKinsey. The World Economic Forum says that Africa’s
current population of 1.1bn citizens will double by 2050, with more than 80% of
the increase in cities.

Compounding the challenges, African
urbanisation is unfolding against a backdrop of climate change. Global risk and
strategic consultancy company Verisk Maplecroft’s Climate Change Vulnerability Index classified 79 of Africa’s 100 fastest-growing cities
as being at “extreme risk”. 

Africa’s development needs must be
addressed through decentralised approaches, according to Jean-Pierre Elong
Mbassi, secretary general of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
Africa.  The main obstacle facing cities
seeking to invest in climate resilience lies in their “capacity to prepare
projects and their capacity to manage large-scale projects,” Elong Mbassi said.

Coordination needed