Addis Ababa: Inadequate as well as low investment on infrastructural development has remained a bottleneck in Africa despite growth and expansion of urbanization, according to African Development Bank (AfDB).
The bank has also urged African nations to prioritize infrastructural development and job opportunities in line with unprecedented expansion of urbanization in the continent.
Issues such as Lack of financial provision for infrastructural development, limited engagement of the private sector among others are major bottlenecks that need to be resolved, it was indicated.
Urban Development Division Manager at AFDB Group, Stefan Yannic Atchia pointed out that there are currently 600 million inhabitants in African cities. And this number is anticipated to increase to 1.2 billion by 2050.
Atchia emphasized that it is vital to provide sufficient energy, transportation and water to create jobs compatible with the influx of urban population.
“We’ve gone from being a rural centric continent to an urbanized co
ntinent. Most young people will seek employment and better educational opportunities as well as better access to water and electricity. So basically, urbanization is offering a lot of opportunities at the same time, because the rapid growth of urbanization, as we said, by 2050 we will have about 1.2 billion inhabitants versus 600 million today.”
However, the manger expressed his concern that this influx of urban population would put a lot of pressure on common infrastructure.
‘So we need to build a lot of infrastructure to support the newcomers and the existing residents of cities across the continent. And that’s a big challenge.’
In this regard, the African Development Bank has been striving on it through allocating more than 2 billion dollars every year for water, energy, transportation and sanitation projects that directly benefit the cities of the continent, the manager added.
Recalled that other development partners are supporting various projects in Africa financially and technically, Atchia stress
ed that the support of development partners alone doesn’t enough unless African cities are able to utilize their own potentials and resources for infrastructure development.
The manager, who underscored the need for African cities to increase their capacity of collecting resources for infrastructure development, pointed out that it is critical to follow a system that enables citizens to play their role and to establish a stable financial system.
‘Cities must come and bring their contribution. Cities can actually do a lot for raising resources or significant amounts of money that would help them in the provision of better services for the citizens,’ he revealed.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency