Publications /
Policy Brief

Back
A Conversation with Policymakers, Mayors, and Urban Specialists: An African Perspective on Sustainable Urban Development and the G20
Authors
Arkebe Oqubay
January 20, 2025

This paper, included in the report "Urban Sustainable Development: Governance, Finance and Politics.", was originally published on:https://cebri.org/en/doc/356/cebri-and-rio-g20-committee-publish-urban-sustainable-development-governance-finance-and-politics

 © Vormittag, Pedro, Marianna Albuquerque & Eugénie Birch (Eds.). 2024. Urban Sustainable Development: Governance, Finance and Politics. Rio de Janeiro: CEBRI.

 

Sustainable urban development is vital for Africa, offering opportunities for a better future that requires political commitment and a collective response to global challenges. A shared perspective and productive debate on Africa’s challenges and future are essential to enhance economic transformation, urban sustainability, and the transition to a carbon-neutral economy. This commentary presents a compelling conversation among African policymakers, leaders, practitioners, and specialists on this pressing theme conducted in September 2024.

The conversation was based on a semi-structured qualitative survey featuring a qualitative format, targeted at a spectrum of African mayors, national policymakers, leaders of continental organizations, and development practitioners—urban specialists. The respondents play a critical role in shaping public policy and practice and include Prime Ministers and the African Union Commission Chairperson, offering a snapshot of their perspectives and concerns. Of the fifty invited participants, nearly 50% completed the survey, including eight ministers, seven officials of continental organizations, five development and urban experts, and the mayors of Rabat, Freetown, Windhoek, and Cape Town.

Cities are vital in attaining the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the net-zero goals endorsed in 2015 under the Paris Agreement. The questionnaire comprised questions underpinned by cities’ contributions as innovation and economic growth engines, as well as Africa’s commitment to the common aspiration of the global community. African countries made a significant stride by unanimously adopting Agenda 2063, a 50-year road map with a theme of “Africa We Want,” which places sustainable urban development at its core. Most recently, in September 2024, the African Union Commission successfully organized an African Urban Forum in Addis Ababa. This pivotal forum delved into African urbanization and the challenges of financing to achieve sustainable and resilient urban development.

RELATED CONTENT

  • October 23, 2025
    On 1 October, China marked the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic. Few nations in modern history have experienced such a remarkable transformation in so short a time. In just over seven decades, China has ascended from poverty and fragmentation to become a technological, economic, and diplomatic powerhouse of global significance. This trajectory—driven by strategic planning, institutional stability, and a steadfast belief in the state as a catalyst for develop ...
  • Authors
    October 23, 2025
    The publication of the latest (74th) edition of the Statistical Review of World Energy (SRWE, 2025) is a good opportunity to take stock of some major trends in the world of energy. In this note, we focus on the African continent. All figures below are taken from this document and refer to the year 2024, unless otherwise indicated.SRWE figures relate to commercially-traded energies, which include fossil fuels, hydroelectricity, nuclear power and modern renewable energies other than h ...
  • Authors
    October 22, 2025
    This blog was originaly published on orfonline.org. The maritime cities of the 21st century are not merely legacies of the industrial age. Rather, they are becoming platforms of global connectivity and engines of economic transformation. As global trade shifts toward digital platforms and multimodal logistics, the traditional harbour is transforming into a 'Blue City' - a modern coastal centre where trade finance, service industries, and skilled workers are considered as k ...
  • October 17, 2025
    Jodie Keane, Principal Research Fellow at the International Economic Development Group, discusses how green trade measures are transforming African economies, stressing the need for faire ...
  • October 15, 2025
    Depuis que l’économie a été reconnue par les Nobel, en1969, c’est à cette discipline qu’il revient de clore les cérémonies annuelles d’attribution des Prix aux lauréats. Pour cette année 2025, c’est le 13 octobre que  l’Américano-Israélien, Joel Mokyr, le Français, Philippe   Aghion, et le Canadien, Peter Howitt, ont été consacrés Prix Nobel de l’Économie. ...
  • October 10, 2025
    This episode of the Policy Center for the New South Podcast features Dr. Hung Q.Tran, Senior Fellow, discussing the tokenization of money and its impact on the global financial system. He ...
  • Authors
    Jorge Arbache
    October 9, 2025
    Conventional wisdom holds that the United States has undergone massive deindustrialization in recent decades, with the country's manufacturing sector supposedly withering as it lost ground to China. This narrative has fueled debates about industrial policy, economic nationalism, and the reshoring of manufacturing production. But what if this story is only partially true? What if, instead of disappearing, American industry simply changed its address?  ...
  • October 7, 2025
    Global economic growth has been more resilient than expected, as the artificial intelligence-led growth seems to be compensating for the negative impacts of trade conflicts. Overstretched asset values and slowing jobs growth may be signaling that the balanced crossing of those two paths...
  • Authors
    October 7, 2025
    Africa's development depends on the mobilization of catalytic levers capable of accelerating growth momentum, with wider benefits for the African people. The digital, energy and demographic transitions are all major challenges, but at the same time they present the continent with new opportunities for transformation. In this context, Atlantic Africa appears to be a strategic and promising area, thanks to the richness and diversity of its natural resources, its geographical position ...