▲ Algiers, Algeria. ©Pichugin Dmitry/Shutterstock.
Western Africa
Western Africa, the most rapidly urbanizing sub-region in Africa after Eastern Africa, has very high, albeit decelerating, city growth rates. Data discrepancies regarding national levels
of urbanization, as well as the dominant scales of urban growth, indicate significant gaps in urban data availability and reliability in the sub-region. Nonetheless, it is clear that urbanization is the central spatial feature in Western Africa’s development pattern. This is especially the case along the Western African coastline, which has been increasing in density of urban settlements and urban interconnectedness. Economic activities conducted by small, informal sector actors, as well as larger formal actors, are mediated through urban agglomerations along corridors, which extend across borders and sub-regions. Sub-regional inter-urban densification, facilitated by urban growth, is hence critical to the growth of the sub-region, not just in primate cities but also in secondary and smaller cities, which connect the rural hinterlands of the sub-region to the economies of its major metropolitan areas. Western Africa is a populous sub-region, and its large commensurate consumption potential has not gone unnoticed by global markets. Emerging urban middle classes in the sub-region are key to sustaining growth and foreign direct investment. At the sub-regional and national scales, economic growth is largely driven by extractive activities in the minerals and energy sectors and agriculture, whereas tertiary sector activities dominate urban economic growth
executive summary
The most obvious path on which planners must embark is one that seeks to merge demands for sustainable urban development with the need for employment among Northern Africa’s relatively well-educated youth. This is the problem that lies at the heart of the urban fragmentation, impoverishment and sense of helplessness that brought the youth onto the streets of the region’s cities in 2011. Given continued unrest in the sub-region, it is likely that increasing pressures upon household budgets will result in further instability and protest. Social stability, food security and economic growth are all dependent upon water. Northern African countries are faced with regional water scarcity challenges, over which conflict and contestation are commonplace. Regional agreements over the use of aquifers, underground and above-ground rivers are critical to ensuring peace, as evident in the case of the Nile’s water resources, which sustain the lives and livelihoods of a wide range of countries. These agreements should include incentives for sustainable water use, especially in countries where unsustainable water use patterns prevail.
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