World Bank: 748 million more urban Africans by 2050, and jobs depend on planning
A World Bank Group report ties better jobs to planning, transport, housing and municipal finance, with separate advice for big cities, outskirts and towns.
By
Kwame Asante
In brief
- The World Bank Group projects 748 million additional urban residents in Sub-Saharan Africa between 2025 and 2050.
- Its report argues that growth alone does not create jobs; planning, transport and housing decide the outcome.
- Advice differs for major cities, fast-growing outskirts and the region’s more than 15,000 towns.
- Property tax technology and stronger city finances are presented as ways to draw private capital.
Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa have a narrow window to decide where new city dwellers will live and work, and the World Bank Group argues that the choices made now carry the most weight. Its report on the region’s urban awakening, subtitled Catalyzing Economic Growth and Job Creation, holds that cities can produce more jobs and faster growth when public money is steered to places where firms can group together and employees can get to work with ease.
A wave of urban residents, and a jobs question
According to Devdiscourse, the report finds that cities already offer sturdier economic prospects than the countryside. Compare households with the same level of schooling: those in towns and cities spend far more per adult than rural ones, which the report ties to access to more and better jobs.
Population growth alone does not deliver those benefits. As Bizwatch Nigeria reports, the report’s central idea is that cities must assemble the conditions in which firms can grow and workers can reach jobs. Transport networks, public transit, housing that people can afford, land management and sounder urban planning are singled out as what makes cities more productive.
Much of the infrastructure that future cities will need has not yet been built. Authorities therefore still have scope to steer growth before expensive patterns of settlement harden. Paschal Donohoe, World Bank Group Managing Director and Chief Knowledge Officer, said that decisions taken today on where and how cities expand could sustain employment, productivity and investment for decades.
“Stronger urban governance, more predictable financing, and greater accountability are essential to turn rapid urbanisation into better infrastructure, more investment, and ultimately more and better jobs.”
Mark Roberts, World Bank Senior Urban Economist and co-author of the report
Three kinds of place, three sets of priorities
The report rejects a single formula. Major cities, expanding outskirts and smaller towns each face distinct challenges, and its recommendations differ accordingly.
| Type of place | What the report recommends |
|---|---|
| Major cities | Roads and rail links that work, reliable transport and homes priced within reach near employment centres, plus regulatory changes so firms and households can settle closer to economic opportunities. |
| Rapidly growing outskirts | Road networks laid out, and land set aside for essential infrastructure, before development becomes hard to reorganise. |
| Smaller towns | Infrastructure money concentrated on towns with strong economic and geographic potential, notably those on transport corridors or near other sources of activity. |
The small-town category is vast: the region counts more than 15,000 towns, and the part they play in development tends to draw less attention than the big cities do. Where a town offers few economic openings, the report says residents would gain from spending on schooling and health that helps them link up with stronger labour markets.
Paying for it: governance, property tax and private capital
Fast-growing towns need fitting governance arrangements and financing tools to get ready for expansion and steer their development. Devdiscourse describes Mark Roberts as the report’s lead author, while Bizwatch Nigeria calls him a co-author; his title is given as Lead Urban Economist and Senior Urban Economist respectively.
One concrete step is to bring inexpensive technology into property tax systems. The report says this would help local governments collect more revenue and become more creditworthy. Healthier municipal budgets could then draw in private capital, public-private partnerships included.
Bizwatch Nigeria says the report was released on a Thursday. Africa Times has also looked at the rise of urbanization in African cities.
Photo: K / Pexels
