Africa is the world’s fastest urbanising region, with cities growing at an average rate of 3.5% per year. Experts predict that by 2050, the continent will add nearly one billion people, rising from 1.5 to 2.5 billion residents, and 80% of this population growth will occur in cities.
And Africa must prepare to meet the challenge. “Over the next three decades, Africa will experience an unprecedented increase in its urban population, doubling from 704 million to 1.4 billion people by 2050, and two out of three Africans will live in an urban area. It will become the continent with the second-largest urban population after Asia, at 3.5 billion,” according to Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics 2025 report, published under the responsibility of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), African Development Bank (AfDB), UNOPS Cities Alliance, and United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG-Africa).
Looking at the projections and present situation, urgent and robust action is required for African cities to move from being sites of “survivalist urbanisation” to becoming engines of sustainable, inclusive growth. “While urbanisation presents significant opportunities for economic growth and innovation, it also places immense pressure on housing, infrastructure and essential services,” says Alice Wahome, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development. “Currently, more than 60% of Africa’s urban population lives in informal settlements.”
In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), informality is widespread, often involving self-built settlements on land without legal title, which are typically lacking access to water, sanitation, and other essential services. Urban growth often outpaces state capacity, leading to rapid, unregulated expansion, according to the convening report from last year’s meeting of UN-Habitat’s Open-ended Intergovernmental Expert Working Group on Adequate Housing for All.
“A critical challenge that must be addressed is the rapid growth of informal settlements, which accommodate the majority of new urban residents but often lack security of tenure, have limited and expensive access to water and sanitation, and have unreliable transport systems, among other basic services, and often have limited resilience to climate and economic shocks,” UN-Habitat executive director Anacláudia Rossbach told Africa in Fact. “Transforming these settlements into serviced and inclusive neighbourhoods is therefore essential for sustainable urban development.”
Rossbach points out that achieving sustainable urban development requires a strong foundation and going back to the basics. Cities need to improve their approach to governance across all levels and place greater emphasis on institutional capacity to manage rapid growth and on effective urban planning and implementation. They must also strengthen their ability to collect and use data to guide decisions and anticipate urban trends, mobilise significantly more financial resources for urban development from their local sources, the private sector and external investments, digitalise land services and basic service delivery, and expand knowledge sharing and dialogue on urbanisation.
The current Governor of Kisumu County in Kenya, Professor Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o, agrees that African governments must to make the right policy choices to decongest existing cities and address the proliferation of informal settlements. “To decongest existing cities, African governments must pay attention to urban planning – build an integrated network of urban infrastructure, transport and green spaces with an emphasis on sustainability, seen in the high quality of public life,” Prof Nyong’o told Africa in Fact. “Governments must invest in public housing. If housing is left to the private sector, the urban poor will be forced to live in what they can afford – slums.”
In a speech given in February this year, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos State in Nigeria, was optimistic that, amid their rapid expansion, Africa’s cities could reshape their economic paths and urban development patterns. Speaking at the John F Kennedy Jr Forum, hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics on the theme of ‘Africa’s Urban Future: Cities at the Crossroads of Growth and Resilience’, the governor noted that “Africa is entering a historic urban expansion, with its cities growing faster than any region globally, driven by a youthful population and rising innovation hubs.
“As one of the world’s fastest-growing regions and home to 30% of global critical minerals, Africa’s cities are reshaping the economies and patterns of urban development with their rapid expansion… and with the right partners and investments, we can build cities that are innovative, inclusive and resilient.”
But complicating matters, there are different urban (land) governance models and tension between centralised state power and local municipal autonomy across SSA, evidencing a need for role-sharing within multi-governance structures and governance frameworks that harmonise land-governance systems.
“Urban governance frameworks designed and implemented at only one level cannot effectively serve cities,” Rossbach says. “African cities face interconnected challenges that call for polycentric and collaborative governance rather than a uniform approach to urban management.” She said the UN’s New Urban Agenda underscored the need for urban governance systems that support social, economic and ecological functions of land, recognising that land should not be treated purely as a commodity but as a resource with vital social and environmental roles.
She adds that “multi-level governance frameworks and institutions must communicate with one another and integrate local community perspectives. These frameworks should identify key actors in urban management, define clear responsibilities, and eliminate overlapping and duplicated mandates between national and local authorities.”
“The general consensus is there are multiple actors in the city…city government becomes only one of the actors in urban governance, but it is expected to provide the enabling environment for other actors to participate effectively in city governance,” says Nairobi-based Professor Tade Aina, the former executive director of the Partnership for African Social and Governance Research.
Rossbach agrees. “Alongside shared roles within a multi-level governance structure, the governance framework should harmonise Africa’s diverse land governance systems present, including the freehold system, customary tenure, community arrangements, and conservancies.”
One of the most significant bottlenecks to African development is land. African countries are grappling with how to address the diversity of tenure systems.
“African land systems are pluralistic, consisting of customary, communal, and statutory arrangements, among others. These systems often overlap, creating uncertainty, conflict, and development obstacles. To address these challenges, reforms are required that recognise this diversity, strengthen tenure security, and create stronger links between customary and statutory arrangements,” says Rossbach.
Recommendations on ways to address diverse tenure systems, including communal, customary, and formal freehold titles, that collide with modern development – Anacláudia Rossbach, executive director, UN-Habitat
First, reforms should recognise the full range of land tenure systems, strengthen tenure security for all users, and establish mechanisms that link customary arrangements with statutory law. Through the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN), UN-Habitat provides tools and approaches that support pro-poor, inclusive land policies and reforms.
Second, countries need legislation that grants communal and customary land full legal status and embeds these rights in national constitutions. This is critical, as most Africans live on community-managed land, and the lack of formal recognition of customary ownership remains a major driver of land disputes. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), structural land-law reforms were enacted for the first time in 56 years, with UN-Habitat providing technical assistance and supporting national stakeholders throughout the drafting process.
Third, there is a need to scale up systematic, low-cost land registration through participatory land mapping, digital registries and workflows, and community land certificates to document land rights efficiently and at scale. UN-Habitat has demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach in South Sudan and Uganda through targeted, low-cost land registration initiatives and legal consultations that help communities understand and formalise their land tenure systems, resulting in the issuance of more than 10,000 tenure certificates.
Lastly, land governance and institutional capacities must be strengthened at all levels, from national agencies to local land boards and customary authorities, to promote transparency, accountability, and standardised procedures across the entire land administration system.
Raphael Obonyo is a public policy analyst. He’s served as a consultant with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). An alumnus of Duke University, he has authored and co-authored numerous books, including Conversations about the Youth in Kenya (2015). He is a TEDx fellow and has won various awards.
