URBANISATION – WATER – ECOSYSTEMS NEXUS

There are 1 billion people in Africa of whom 400 million live in urban areas. With 40 per cent of the population living in urban areas, Africa is the least urbanised region in the world (UN-HABITAT 2010).

As centres of economic activity, innovation and development, Africa’s urban areas are expanding rapidly, growing at a world annual fastest rate of 3.5 per cent (UNEP 2006). At this growth rate the urban population doubled from 205 million in 1990 to

Abuja Urban growth rate in Africa

Current and projected urban population growth for selected cities for the periods 1995-2010 and 2010-2025 Percentage

300 Ouagadougou

400 million in 2010, and is projected to triple to 1.23 billion by 2050 (UN Population revision 2009). It is expected that by 2030 the proportion of people living in Africa’s urban areas will be 50 per cent and reach 60 per cent by 2050 (UN-HABITAT 2010).

250 Niamey 200 Casablanca Fes Algiers Kano 150 Mogadishu Dakar 100 50

1995-2010 2010-2025

0 Source: UNDESA, The World Urbanisation Prospects, The 2009 Revision, 2010. Cape Town Conakry Bamako Abidjan Kumasi Accra Lomé

Benin City

Douala Lagos Ogbomosho Ibadan Kaduna Johannesburg Port Elizabeth Pretoria Maputo

Ekurhuleni Durban

Figure 1: Africa’s urban centres are currently growing at an annual rate that is the fastest compared to other regions. The urban expansion is expected to continue, with cities like Abuja and Ouagadougou expecting very high growth in the next decade, while Cairo, Africa’s largest city, is projected to see a comparatively lower growth rate.

11 Yaoundé Luanda

Kinshasa Brazaville

Mombasa Mbuji-Mayi Lubumbashi

Dar es Salaam

Antananarivo Harare Tripoli Cairo Alexandria

Khartoum Kampala

Nairobi Addis Ababa