EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
 utages. Around 70% of Africa’s population o still uses solid fuels for cooking and heating, with a huge effect on the environment and health. Public transport The uncontrolled sprawl of most African cities has created a fragmented public transport system. To reach what transport there is, most people walk long distances on unsafe roads. The private sector dominates in urban transport, with stiff competition between informal minibus operators and buses. Given massive congestion in large cities, integrated transport and rapid transport initiatives like Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) have recently been implemented in some cities. In South Africa and parts of North Africa, tramways and railway transportation are being developed. However, in general, urban transport systems are inadequate. Management and financing models Management models of basic services Historically, basic services in Africa have been largely the preserve of central governments, with local governments only regulating, monitoring and, in some cases, maintaining these services (with some exceptions). During the 1980s, in the context of structural adjustment, there was a push for privatization. In water and sanitation, for instance, some international companies developed a presence in various countries in Africa in the 1990s, but their involvement decreased in the 2000s. Full-scale privatization has not become the norm. Where private sector organizations are involved (mostly in francophone countries), they have involved management contracts to revamp and integrate existing services. Overall, the delivery of basic services is still primarily managed through the public sector, although with variations. There is no single management model in the water
and sanitation sectors: around one-third of African countries (mostly francophone) have a national water utility; the rest have decentralized water services to local level. Models involving the participation of civil society and the private sector have also been adopted; and the role of small service operators is increasingly important in areas which currently lack service provision. Of all the basic services under review, the management of solid waste is probably the most decentralized and fragmented. In almost all cities, the private sector (including the informal sector) and civil society are also involved. In the vast majority of African countries, the central government continues to manage all aspects of the delivery of electricity. South Africa is different: over 170 municipalities are involved in the distribution of electricity. However, in twelve countries there has been some degree of privatization, with a range of models. Recently, many African cities have been looking at solar initiatives as a way of dealing with power shortages, high costs or unreliability of electricity supplied through the grid. Local government financing of basic services To be able to take on the challenges that rapid urbanization poses to Africa, an annual investment of close to 5% of the continent’s GDP is required over the next 20 years. Current spending is half of that at 2.5% of GDP, two-thirds of which are domestically sourced (USD3 billion a year). The public sector is the dominant contributor to these investments and its resources come from taxation or loans. The low level of fiscal decentralization makes it difficult for local governments in Africa to play a significant financing role. Private sector participation in basic service investment funding remains very modest and the PPP model promoted by the international com-