The time has come to transform local government in Africa

Minister Jeff Radebe: 7th Session of The Africities Summit

Opening address by Honourable Jeff Radebe, MP, Minister in the Presidency: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, at the 7th Session of The Africities Summit; Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg

Chair of the Session, Councillor Khalifa Ababacar Sall, Mayor of Dakar and President of the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa,
Josep Roig, United Cities and Local Governments Secretary General
Councillor Parks Tau, Executive Mayor of our host city, the City of Johannesburg,
Councillor Thabo Manyoni, Chairperson of SALGA,
His Excellency, Dr Aisha Abdullahi AU Commissioner for Political Affairs,
Councillor Patrick Klugman, Deputy Mayor of Paris,
Members of the United Cities and Local Governments Presidency,
Honourable Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and other ministers from different countries on the continent,
Former Heads of States that are patrons of the Africities Summit
Representatives of various regional bodies
Mayors and councillors
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

On behalf of His Excellency, President Jacob Zuma, the Government and people of South Africa, I have the pleasure to welcome you to our beautiful country. I would like to start by congratulating the City of Johannesburg, under the leadership of Councillor Parks Tau, for winning the bid to host the 7th Session of the Africities Summit. We wish to convey our gratitude to the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa’s (UCLGA) Political Committee for affording South Africa an opportunity to host this Summit.

The theme of this summit: “Shaping the Future of Africa with the People - Africa’s Local Government Contribution to the Africa 2063 Vision” is very befitting. This event brings together local governments of Africa and development partners to jointly learn and explore innovative solutions to improve the social and economic situation of our people.

The previous six Africities summits dealt with very important and pressing matters affecting development on the Continent including the financing of local government to fulfil its role effectively, building coalitions for achievement of common objectives and unpacking the role of local government in connecting people, environment, development and democracy to achieve sustainable development among others.

This summit provides a wonderful opportunity to assess the contribution of local government to the attainment of Agenda 2063- the Africa we want. The rigorous assessment of likely future trends and discussion of what needs to be done at the local level will ensure that we come up with robust strategies.

One of the trends is that our continent is urbanising quickly.  High levels of urbanisation and concentration can lead to exponential increases in economic growth and development if the positive energies of our people are harnessed and channelled in the right direction. High levels of urbanisation that are not managed well can however lead to multiple negative consequences, such as congestion, over-utilisation of infrastructure, social unrest and more.  In Africa, we are currently seeing a mixture of positive and negative consequences of urbanisation.

The urbanisation levels on the Continent increased from just 15 per cent in 1960 to 40 per cent in 2010. This figure is expected to reach 60 percent in 2050, and triple in the next 50 years. Between 2010 and 2050, the number of Africa’s urban dwellers is projected to increase from 400 million to 1.26 billion. The Africa-wide urbanization level is projected to reach 50 per cent around 2035 and may rise further to almost 58 per cent by 2050.

The 2014 State of Cities Report produced by the UN Habitat emphasises the need for us to use this opportunity to rethink our approaches to urban development considering that on the whole Africa’s population is still well below the 50 percent urban threshold. This overall threshold however masks differences between regions. Southern Africa is the most urbanized region in sub-Saharan Africa, however even in this region urbanization has progressed unevenly, between and within countries.

Northern Africa is also highly urbanized, with most of its cities unevenly spread along its Mediterranean coastline and the Nile Valley and Delta. The estimated 11million population of Cairo, is projected to grow at an annual rate of at least two per cent until 2020. Although Central Africa is rapidly urbanizing, this sub-region is not expected to reach a region-wide urban majority until around 2030.

Eastern Africa is the world’s least urbanized but fastest urbanizing sub-region. By the end of the current decade, its urban population will have increased by 50 per cent and the total number of urban dwellers in 2040 is expected to be five times that of 2010. Eastern Africa will face huge challenges associated with massive urban population increases; monumental new and additional demands for the provision of adequate and affordable housing and urban services.

Projections indicate that by 2030 Africa’s population will exceed that of Europe, South and North America combined. But Africa is a very large and a still comparatively sparsely populated continent. Forecasts for Africa indicate that average densities will increase from 34 to 79 persons per square kilometre between 2010 and 2050.

Policy changes will be required to guide Africa’s rising urbanization levels and the desirable dispersion of population. Current and future demographic structures need to be taken into consideration, because the population will remain young for decades.

In recent years, Africa’s economic growth has seen real gross domestic product (GDP) increasing at a rate twice that of the 1980s and 1990s. By 2020, it is projected that 128 million African households will have transited to “middle class” level.  The 2015 African Outlook Report maintains that in terms of human development, African countries have made significant progress in all dimensions of human development, comparable with other regions of the world.

Sustaining economic growth and promoting social development is dependent on several things. Key among these is availability of infrastructure services in the form of transport, telecommunications, water, energy and sanitation.

To sustain the positive growth trajectory in Africa we must pay attention to our vulnerability to climate change, citizens’ expectations of more inclusive growth, a rise in social demands, demographic growth that will create both opportunities and challenges, rising levels of corruption and more. Youthful urban populations with increasing levels of education are not happy to be unemployed and they demand access to opportunities. North Africa has already seen how this can threaten peace and stability, as well as economic growth prospects.

In September 2015, Heads of States gathered in New York to adopt a new set of sustainable development goals. Before then, in July, governments met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to agree on the financing framework that underpins these goals. As we gather here today, people are already gathering in Paris to attend the 21st Conference of the Parties to engage in crucial negotiations on a new climate change agreement. The stakes are very high indeed.

Despite historically low levels of green-house gas emissions from Africa as compared to the developed world, Africa is likely to be the most adversely affected by climate change. Scientists recently confirmed an average increase of one degree Celsius in world temperatures. This however translates into greater temperature increases in some areas, particularly in Africa. Vulnerability to climate change is a significant threat to development objectives on the African continent, particularly food and water security.

Ten of the world’s twelve most drought-vulnerable countries are in Africa. Water scarcity and drought presently affect millions of people in at least 25 African countries, and more than 13 million were affected in the Horn of Africa alone during the 2010/2011 drought.

Global environmental change will affect rainfall patterns. As it is rainfall is already less predictable, leading to uncertainty in timing for crop planting as well as crop failures and insecurity of water supplies. Water supply to urban areas will be severely tested in the future, since this is largely linked to rainfall, basic infrastructures and the capacity to use water resources sparingly.

Urban dwellers in most of Africa presently rely predominantly on rural areas for food security rather than imported foodstuffs. Appropriate infrastructure for supply and distribution linkages is essential, since even surplus crops are useless unless delivered in time to consumers.

Ladies and Gentlemen

The Africa of today is not the Africa of yesterday. What has worked previously might not work today to improve our various municipalities, nations and the continent at large. We are faced with massive development opportunities as well as challenges of poverty and inequality. To achieve the Africa we want in 2063, several issues require new and innovative thinking and approaches.

The role of local government is critical in enabling cities and towns to be the engines of growth, contributing substantially to national growth. It is important that we identify practical ways of harnessing this urbanisation for sustainable and inclusive growth. We need to invest in proper urban planning and management systems in our urban spaces.

The existence and continuous increase of informal settlements in the majority of our cities is, to a large extent an indication of insufficient planning for growth, coupled with insufficient resources to provide housing options for the urban dwellers. Addressing this requires strong collaboration between the various levels of government.

Our urban planning and management should at help us to create urban form appropriate to the local context; expand basic services; target the urban poor and vulnerable groups; expand social and economic infrastructure and strengthen the connectivity between cities and the domestic and international markets.

In line with sustainable development goals for sustainable cities and communities, the UN guidelines for urban and territorial development were developed to provide a universal framework to guide urban policy reforms and raise the urban and territorial dimensions of the development agendas of national, regional and local governments.

The guide emphasises the importance of strong political will, appropriate partnerships as well as enabling components around an enforceable and transparent legal framework, sound and flexible urban planning and design and a financial plan for affordability and cost effectiveness.  In this regard, planning should be more than a technical tool; it should draw extensively on integrative and participatory decision-making processes that address competing interest.

At the heart of the renewed urban governance paradigm, is local democracy, participation and inclusion, transparency and accountability, with a view to ensuring sustainable urbanization and spatial quality.  The important role that African local governments must play, requires committed and capable leadership. We know too well that development cannot be attained unless various levels of government work together. It is therefore important that among other things, during our discussions we identify concrete ways of strengthening collaboration between key role-players.

Although the urbanisation levels are increasing, rural areas are still home to the majority of African people. These areas are usually characterised by high poverty levels, with little or no access to basic service and infrastructure that can support economic activities.  Rural areas have a critical role to play in the national space economy. The sustainable development of our continent, therefore, is dependent on investing in rural infrastructure and strengthening the linkages between our rural and urban areas. Sustainable urban development is dependent upon sustainable rural development and vice versa. 

Distinguished guests, in 2012, the Parliament and Cabinet of South Africa adopted the National Development Plan Vision 2030 developed by our National Planning Commission. It projects forward to 2030, outlines a compelling vision of a society we want to be and maps out the actions we need to take over the next 15 years. Our plan recognises the important role of cities and local government in ensuring the attainment of our overall national development objectives. We have put in place measures to monitor and evaluate its implementation with a view to make adjustments as we progress towards 2030.

Since the adoption of our plan, we have embarked on a journey to learn how to accelerate the implementation of development objectives in the complex environment of the 21st century. While we are happy to share the lessons learnt so far, we are acutely aware that many countries on the continent have been on a similar journey for longer and have a lot to teach us. This summit is very important to us for that reason.

Addressing development in different regions requires collaboration and structured partnerships between cities and within cities. We look to this summit to help all of us to find ways to build stronger and lasting partnerships for growth and development.

I now declare this 7th Session of the Africities Summit and the exhibition open, and wish you fruitful deliberations during the coming days.

I thank you

Issued by: 

Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

Photo Credit : Marlon Nero

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