Bennet Kpentey, chief executive and managing consultant at Ghanaian-based Sync Consult Management Consultants.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (Rics) Africa Summit was held in Sandton last week and discussed urbanisation in African cities, particularly Gauteng, which attracts more than 300 000 people annually.
One of the keynote speakers, Bennet Kpentey, chief executive and managing consultant at Sync Consult Management Consultants highlighted the rapid rate of urbanisation in Africa.
Kpentey said, “Cities in Africa with more than one million people increased by 52 per cent in 2011 to 65 per cent last year. This rate of urbanisation is on par with Europe and higher than India and North America.
MEC for Infrastructure, Jacob Mamabolo and RICS President Amanda Clack discuss the main issues with urbanisation in Africa.
“Forty per cent of the population [in Africa] live in cities and [this] is almost on par with China. By 2030, Africa will have 760 million urban residents, increasing to 1.2 billion by 2050, according to the African Economic Outlook 2016 Report.”
Principal partner of Ubosi Eleh, Emeka Eleh added, “The challenge is that urbanisation in much of Africa takes a life of its own, with regulators not being proactive enough to plan ahead. Urban areas are key to economic growth and it is important for cities to plan and manage [themselves] to deal with rapid urbanisation. Not planning for urbanisation will mean higher infrastructure development costs and other challenges.”
In his keynote address, Jacob Mamabolo, MEC for the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure said, “We have prioritised infrastructure investment in Gauteng and in the last three years, between 2013 and 2016, Gauteng’s infrastructure investment amounted to R30 billion.
“This translates into an average annual growth rate in infrastructure spending of 20.7 per cent which is the fastest growth rate for any province in the country.”
Rics president Amanda Clack said by investing in core infrastructure, governments would ensure the economic future of a country and its cities.
Kpentey concluded, “Africa’s rapid urbanisation presents infrastructure challenges for its major cities. This is also a sign of a prospering continent. The upward mobility, high urbanisation and continued economic growth brought an increased number of mega infrastructure projects in Africa.”
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