African cities are at the heart of an accelerated transition (almost 684 million African urban citizens in 2020, compared with 290 million in 2000) which, combined with very limited investment resources, is hampering their ability to build sustainable infrastructure and provide quality public services. Urbanisation is not just a phenomenon in “megapolises” (i.e., Kinshasa, Cairo, Lagos, etc.): Africa now boasts 8,500 urban areas with over 10,000 inhabitants, compared to 5,180 in 2000. African urbanisation requires estimated investment of US$150 billion a year. With African countries only able to cover US$60 billion of this amount, funding requirements are estimated at US$90 billion. This will be essential for making cities more functional, meeting basic infrastructure requirements and providing essential services.

Alongside quantitative challenges, it is vital to trace a more sustainable development path for African cities faced with more difficult climatic conditions (average temperatures in Africa have already risen by 1.4°C since the pre-industrial era, compared with 1.1°C for the planet as a whole). Local authorities have an important role to play in implementing national commitments to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to climate change, either by implementing national strategies at local level, or by helping to achieve the country’s climate objectives through innovative actions on the ground.

PREPARING RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURES FOR AFRICAN CITIES

African cities have been particularly hard hit by natural disasters, exacerbated by climate change, despite contributing only a very small proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions (even today, Africa generally makes only a marginal contribution of around 9% to annual global emissions). These cities are often located in coastal regions or by rivers and are therefore more exposed to rising sea levels. Regardless of their location, they are also subject to extreme hydrometeorological events (devastating floods and heat waves aggravated by humidity in tropical areas, etc.). Moreover, their development is often unregulated: 40% of their growth takes place through the formation or densification of informal settlements. The lack of sustainable infrastructure and essential services reinforces socio-economic inequalities, deprivation and insecurity, especially for women and the most vulnerable, and exacerbates the impacts of climate change on people’s daily lives.

It is therefore essential to help local authorities to produce operational studies that can generate financing for investments that make cities more sustainable and resilient. As part of this approach, AFD manages grant funds that enable local and international consultancy firms to prepare sustainable urban development projects. In sub-Saharan Africa, the CICLIA (Cities and Climate in Africa) and CoM SSA (Covenant of Mayors in sub-Saharan Africa) initiatives, co-financed by the European Union and/or the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), are the main programmes achieving tangible results on the ground.

AFD has used CICLIA and CoM SSA to finance expertise and technical assistance for getting projects up and running. This support consolidates the preparation of resilient urban infrastructure projects and ensures they are more effectively aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 11: “Making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”), meaning that these investments can be financed by national development banks, international financial institutions or the private sector. Consequently, 15 capital cities and 27 intermediate cities have been supported in 19 sub-Saharan African countries. They include Durban, Cape Town, Kigali, Lagos, Lomé, Abidjan, Yamoussoukro, Kampala, Yaoundé, Douala, Conakry, Bobo Dioulasso, Mwanza, Tanga, Ganvié and Djibouti. With just €15 million in cumulative grant endowment funds within CICLIA and CoM SSA, over €1.7 billion in catalytic investments can be deployed in these cities thanks to financial engineering and project structuring overseen by AFD. More than €710 million of this amount has already been formally allocated by AFD, the European Union and other financial backers.

EARLY LESSONS

Experience shows that “Cities and Climate” project preparation funds effectively deal with two shortcomings. They make it possible to bolster local teams (local authorities and ministries) by focusing expertise on specific project arrangements. They also make up for the lack of financial resources available to African municipalities wishing to commission costly project preparation studies.

They can help fund the emergence and operational deployment of core initiatives at local level, such as adapting urban infrastructure to extreme climate phenomena, preparing for natural disasters, preserving ecosystem services (“green infrastructure”), promoting low-carbon urban mobility, providing socio-collective amenities that improve quality of life in poor neighbourhoods, and so on. However, the role of these funds in supporting urban decarbonisation and climate adaptation may clash with the priorities of national and local authorities in terms of strengthening emergency services, without challenging norms, standards and operating methods and infrastructure maintenance. In certain cases, only limited consideration isgiven to the longer-term implications of climate change.

Lastly, it is essential to factor in the time needed to prepare and set up institutional arrangements for structuring investment projects in African cities. Identifying, planning and forging two-way political and technical dialogue between stakeholders takes time but this is a decisive phase. It makes it possible to perform in-depth preliminary analyses, to forge multi-stakeholder dialogue and co-design the project, and to work on ensuring that the proposed solutions are acceptable. It also enables the co-financiers to be coordinated and onboarded, thereby consolidating the large volumes of investment funding needed for the essential urban transition.