Cities across Africa are growing faster than anywhere else in the world. Their urban populations are expected to more than double over the next 40 years. African cities, therefore, face immense challenges as well as opportunities to develop new infrastructure, buildings and transport systems so that their inhabitants can prosper and create adequate resilience to the threats posed by climate change.
The Africa we want
The African Union’s Agenda 2063 is the continent’s blueprint and master plan for transforming Africa into a global powerhouse of the future and a strategic framework that aims to deliver on its goal for inclusive and sustainable development.
Right at the top of the list of the goals of Agenda 2063 is: “A high standard of living, quality of life and well-being for all citizens.” These are to be achieved by improving the following priority areas: incomes, jobs and decent work; poverty, inequality and hunger; social security and protection; and modern affordable and liveable habitats and quality basic services. These link through to four of the 17 UN global sustainability goals, including number 11: “Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.”
Pioneering Cape Town
According to REN21’s Renewables in Cities: 2021 Global Status Report, rapidly growing cities in sub-Saharan Africa are increasingly recognising how renewables can help fight energy poverty and tackle climate change. The report highlights the efforts by six African cities to transition to renewables. With a dedicated energy and climate change unit, Cape Town in South Africa is regarded as a pioneer in providing affordable and secure energy access.
Todd Gartner, Director: Cities4Forests and Natural Infrastructure, World Resources Institute (WRI) notes that Cape Town is “a bit of an outlier, financially speaking, compared to the rest of Africa. To meet the ambitions of a thriving and resilient economy across Africa is going to take partnerships; and those are not just global partnerships and partnerships with investors, it is about inclusive opportunities with local communities and local cities.”
The other cities who are lauded for their efforts to transition to a greener energy mix are: Cocody in Côte d’Ivoire, Dakar, Kampala, Tsévié in Togo and Yaoundé.
C40 Cities
C40 Cities is a global network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities that are united in action to confront the climate crisis. Currently 13 African cities are members, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa leads with five of its largest metros (Cape Town, eThekwini, Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and Tshwane), and the other African members currently are Abidjan, Accra, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Freetown, Lagos and Nairobi.
Mayors of C40 cities are committed to using an inclusive, science-based and collaborative approach to cut their fair share of emissions in half by 2030, help the world limit global heating to 1.5°C and build healthy, equitable and resilient communities.
“Because transport as a sector is usually in the top two or top three highest emitters in any economy or in any city, just by making those interventions in the transport sector, you’ve already made a significant contribution to GHG reductions,” says Lusanda Madikizela, Head: Zero Emission Freight Transport at C40 Cities.
She says the greener transport of goods and people in cities can actually transform the environment, urban spaces and ultimately, the economies, too. [Read and watch full interview here.]
Green City Kigali
Last month, the City of Kigali released the Green City Kigali Concept Master Plan for Kinyinya Hill in the Gasabo District, following an extensive review process. This milestone marks a pivotal step towards implementing a groundbreaking initiative that will drive the city’s sustainable, affordable, green and inclusive urban growth.
The Green City Kigali Master Plan is built around four key pillars: affordable and socially equitable development, climate change adaptation and mitigation, resource efficiency and culturally sensitive urban development. It is based on the existing Kigali Master Plan 2050 and outlines the rationale for the creation of a green city.
“The Green City Kigali Master Plan has been approved, marking a significant milestone on our journey to advance sustainable and inclusive urban living in our city of Kigali. Residents can now access it, learn about the implications on their plots and apply for construction permits,“ said Samuel Dusengiyumva, Mayor of the City of Kigali.
The Green City Kigali is one of the Rwanda Green Fund’s flagship projects. “We are pleased to see it progress to this stage,” says Teddy Mugabo, CEO of the Rwanda Green Fund. “It is unique because it tackles environmental and urban challenges while also focusing on community well-being, cultural integration and affordability. This demonstrates the country’s commitment to sustainability and a green future for Rwandans.”
Image: greencitykigali.org
Long-term greening of cities
According to research by the Coalition for Urban Transitions, “Financing Africa’s Urban Opportunities” suggests that the greening of cities could offer long-term security and substantial economic growth for the continent.
Analysis from three major African countries, Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa, shows that it would unlock hundreds of billions of dollars in benefits and create 400,000 additional jobs by 2050. Further investment in low-carbon measures will attract hundreds of thousands of jobs, cheaper living costs and energy savings.
Greening cities in this way will help contribute to Africa’s achievement of the SDGs and Agenda 2063 targets for prosperity. The approach will produce cities that are more inclusive and resilient to shocks, as well as being cheaper to run, more productive, healthier and less polluting.
Banks are beginning to lend to green cities
Two International Finance Corporation (IFC) experts, Prashant Kapoor (Chief Industry Specialist, Green Buildings and Cities, Climate Business Department) and Elleanor Robins (Investment Officer, Municipal & Environmental Infrastructure), state that since the 2015 Paris Agreement, there has been a groundswell in city-level commitment to climate action: “Almost 9,400 cities around the world have committed to over 20,000 individual and cooperative actions to address climate change. Having erred on the side of caution for years, financial institutions are beginning to lend to green cities.”
According to the IFC experts, there are three reasons why financial institutions should invest in green cities in emerging markets.
iii. Banks and cities can work together to aggregate green investments and generate more business. APEX (Advanced Practices for Environmental Excellence in Cities) is an IFC innovation that allows cities and banks to collaborate and scale up urban infrastructure projects. The platform leverages IFC’s well-established Cities Initiative, which combines investment and advisory services for cities, including through the provision of direct municipal financing. This, in essence, allows commercial banks to grow and green their investments.
Africa primed for blended finance
Apart from banks, where else should these investments come from? “Blended finance has a tremendous amount of potential in Africa, and we’re just getting started,” says Aakif Merchant, Director, Engagement and Capacity Building and Head of Africa at Convergence, an impact investment management firm focused on the telecommunications, media and technology sector in Africa. “Blended finance is the coming together with various different forms of capital: capital from foundations, the donor agencies, development banks and large financial institutions.”
He continues: “Africa is really primed to be a recipient. In fact, when we look at all the blended finance transactions in the world, and we’ve captured around 1,200 transactions at Convergence, half of those have been delivered and have mobilised capital on the continent. We need to scale those transactions and spread them across Africa, away from South Africa and Kenya and Nigeria, who are the usual suspects, to the other countries on the continent, such as Senegal, Zimbabwe, Zambia or even Ethiopia.” [Read or watch the full interview here.]
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