Sub-Saharan Africa’s urban population is projected to grow by 748 million from 2025 to 2050, putting pressure on cities to create jobs and manage expansion, the World Bank Group says.
The report estimates the region’s urban population will rise from 913 million in 2025 to 1.7 billion in 2050. An OECD-led study previously covered by EconoTimes also projected substantial urban growth across Africa.
The region needs roughly 15 million jobs each year to match the number of young people entering its labor markets annually, the World Bank says. Urban households spend more per adult than rural households with similar education, but many city jobs are informal and low-paid, according to the report.
The World Bank’s analysis of nighttime lights points to a large gap in economic activity: cities across the region register nearly half the level of similarly sized urban centers at the global frontier. Transport is one constraint. One in four firms identifies it as a major or very severe problem, while about 32% of Africans live within walking distance of public transport.
The report links these barriers to limited basic infrastructure, rules that restrict access to land and development, and informal expansion that fragments cities and raises infrastructure costs. It projects the region’s urban area will expand by 90% by 2050. The World Bank said in an announcement that Sub-Saharan Africa has more than 15,000 towns.
The report recommends directing investment toward places where firms can form job-generating clusters and workers can reach them. It also urges authorities to reserve space for roads and services on city edges before construction makes them harder to add, and to invest in towns with strong economic or geographic potential. Modernized property-tax systems and stronger local revenue collection are among its proposals for improving city finances and attracting private investment.
Mark Roberts, the World Bank’s lead urban economist and the report’s lead author, said cities need “the institutions and resources to manage growth effectively.” The report also cites other regions where urbanization accompanied productivity gains and broader economic change.
