Tibaijuka warns Africa on rapid urbanisation

African leaders have been told to halt “the rapid and chaotic urbanisation” which has been blamed for blocking the continent from lucrative investment and business opportunities.

Habitat chief Anna Tibaijuka said about 70 per cent of Africans had crossed into cities and towns and most were living in abject poverty without water and sanitation.

“This is taking place am afraid in a very rapid and chaotic manner, so Africa has to catch up with this scourge of rapid and chaotic urbanisation for the continent to be secured for business and economic activities,” she told the World Economic Forum on Africa taking place in Dar es Salaam.

She said, in the unfolding scenario, it is women and children who are most hard hit, pointing out that those living in the mushrooming informal settlements lack access to safe water and sanitation. “Indeed to call a spade a spade without dignity,” she said.

Dr Tibaijuka noted that 60 per cent of Africa’s population is below the age of 30, and emphasised the need to offer the youth with education, skills and training to spur growth on the continent.

“Sustainable development in Africa will have to pick a social perspective in order to secure the interests of the people because then and only then can we flourish,” said Dr Tibaijuka.
She warned that rapid urbanisation was a recipe for unrest and upheavals in cities.

Presenting his thoughts and expectations for the meeting, the founder and chairman of the HCL inforsystems of India and Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum on Africa 2010, Ajai Chowdhry, challenged participants to bring together their knowledge and experience to build the ‘next Africa’.

“India has a billion people so does Africa, we have very similar problems therefore we could have similar solutions which we in India can enable to bring into Africa,” he said.

He said the first step is to create effective institutions that create transparency and good governance.

He continued that India has done a lot through techonological intervention in e-governance which can easily be replicated in Africa.

Mr Chowdhry said when India votes, over 700 million people participate via electronic voting and the results are out the next day.

He said the whole issue of mindset empowerment which is also being discussed at the WEF is the only way to ensure that the poor do not remain poor by empowering them with information.

He revealed that information available at the village level in India had dramatically changed the lives of the people.

On his part, Mr Kuseni Dlamini, Chief Executive Officer, Old Mutual South Africa said Africa has suffered from a historical legacy of Afro pessimism and that he hoped the meeting will have informed and concrete conversations that will enable Africa to turn the corner.