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munity has only been implemented in cities in middle-income countries, such as Johannesburg (South Africa) and Casablanca (Morocco). Existing and emerging challenges The unavoidable role of small and medium size service providers A major problem for basic service governance in Africa lies in the dual nature of urban conglomorations, with informal neighbourhoods alongside areas with formal access to basic services. In these informal areas, basic service provision will continue to depend, for the foreseeable future, on small independent operators from the informal sector who provide services to the poorest in society, often at a higher cost than the official operator providing these services in the richest neighbourhoods. Africa’s local authorities must acknowledge this fact and develop policies that manifest a commitment to equality and inclusion and promoting dialogue between all stakeholders. The partnership challenge African countries and local governments need to find ways of partnering with the private sector. Local governments face two important questions: how can they be sure of the long-term economic viability of the partnership? And, how can they equip themselves to genuinely manage this partnership given that the private partner often has more experience and training? At present, almost no local government in Africa is capable of facing this double challenge. However, the example of Morocco, where there is a state directorate to support local authorities in negotiating Public-Private Partnerships is an example of how this can be achieved. The planning challenge The lack of regional planning and of spatial and temporal coherence between var-
ious national, sectoral strategies for basic network services is a critical problem for basic service provision. Strategic basic network service planning must go hand in hand with land use planning at all levels of governance. Given the impact of basic infrastructure in the increase in land value of the area it serves, planning should also be a tool for resource mobilization through the capture of added land value deriving from city development. A momentum for alternative solutions The immense backlogs in basic service infrastructure development compel African cities and local governments to look for alternative solutions to centralized grids and networks. It is unrealistic to imagine that whole cities will be served by such grids in the near future. This is why semi-centralized or decentralized solutions in water and sanitation service provision, as well in energy, have emerged. On-site solutions, increasingly viable, present alternatives to basic service provision by public authorities. The affordability challenge Addressing the costs of providing services to city dwellers is a primary issue for local governments. The cost of universal household connections to water and sanitation networks is estimated at 1% of GDP, compared with the estimated 6.5% GDP cost of the lack of adequate access to these services. In other words, given their sustained GDP growth rate (beyond 4%-5%), most African countries can build solutions without waiting for outside resources. The second issue is access for the poor. African cities are among the most unequal in the world. There is a huge divide in access, with the poor paying more than the rich for lesser quality services. This is why local governments should implement pro-poor policies using cross-subsidies.