Urbanization on the African continent represents a megatrend. By 2050, the percentage of people living in urban areas is predicted to rise from 47% in 2000 to around 60%. With an average annual urban growth rate of 3.5% in the last 20 years, Africa has seen the largest urbanization in the developing world, and this trend is anticipated to continue until the year 2050. According to projections, major African cities will house up to 85% of the continent's population between 2010 and 2025. Urbanization in Africa varies by region, each area having its own geographic and historical contexts. East Africa has the lowest rate of people living in cities while South and North Africa lead in urban growth; followed by Central and West Africa who are home to some of the largest megacities in Africa.

Economic, cultural and social perspectives change when a large portion of the population moves from rural to urban areas. Any effort at economic growth, human development or environmental protection on the continent has to engage the people living in Africa’s rapidly expanding towns and cities.

Previous urbanization phases, elsewhere in the world, have provided impetus for socio-economic progress. On the African continent, urbanization is already shaping every aspect of economic, political and cultural life. There is, however, a dearth of precedents and theory that can be used to understand and guide Africa’s urbanization so as to ensure an economic dividend. A lack of infrastructure and services, unplanned settlements, significant informal economies, dependence on commodity extraction and exports, and institutional gaps, continue to undermine the links between urbanization and industrialization in many African countries.

African cities and towns will be built one way or another in the next three decades. How they are built will determine the prospects for the continent and the viability of global sustainability efforts for the remainder of the century. It has never been more important for new multi-level governance arrangements and continent-wide programmes to harness the current urbanization phase to ensure economic diversification, reduced cost-of-service delivery and climate resilient development.

A French copy of the Concept note is available here.

Main theme: “Sustainable Urbanization for Africa’s Transformation – Agenda 2063. The theme underscores the critical importance of harnessing the potential of urbanization to drive inclusive, nature protecting, climate resilient development across the continent. At its core, the theme reflects a commitment to realizing the vision outlined in Agenda 2063, which envisions an Africa that is prosperous, integrated, and peaceful, with empowered citizens and strong institutions.

Sub-theme 1: Financing Urbanization for socio-economic transformation
Rapid urbanization in Africa presents a significant financing challenge, requiring substantial investments in infrastructure, services, and social amenities to accommodate growing urban populations. However, traditional financing mechanisms often fall short of meeting the scale and complexity of urban development needs. This sub-theme explores both supply and demand side constraints on financing African cities. It aims to identify innovative options for financing urbanization, including public-private partnerships, development finance, and community-based financing models.

Sub-theme 2: Sustainable and resilient urban development in Africa
As African cities continue to expand in the face of climate change, there is a growing recognition of the need to promote sustainable and resilient urban development practices that balance economic growth with environmental conservation and social inclusion. The Nairobi Declaration deriving from the Africa Climate Summit held in September 2023 in Nairobi recognized cities as hot spots for climate vulnerability, thus the nexus between urbanization and climate change. This sub-theme explores strategies for building cities that are environmentally sustainable, socially inclusive, and economically resilient.

The Forum provides a diverse multi-stakeholder platform to;

• Raise the profile of urbanization as an imperative for sustainable and resilient development in Africa.
• Support inclusive and participatory human settlement development in Africa’s structural transformation and attainment of Agenda 2063.
• Facilitate dialogues and buy in for sustainable urbanization among Africa’s heads of state and Governments.
• Identify, discuss, and prioritize emerging and critical issues in inclusive and sustainable urban development from the perspective of different stakeholders.
• Exchange ideas, best practices and innovative approaches related to sustainable urbanization.
• Foster collaboration of different stakeholders at various levels to develop strategies, improve programme & project implementation outcomes, share resources, and build capacities.

Expected outputs (non- exhaustive) of the Africa Urban Forum include:

• African Union declaration which will benefit not only Africa but will serve as Africa’s position on sustainable urban development to be communicated to the global community including the World Urban Forum.
• More awareness on the urban agenda in Africa at the highest level of Head of States.
• A roadmap on the implementation of the African Union declaration on sustainable, equal, and inclusive urbanization.
• Commitments for support to implement African Union urban development flagship projects.
• Investment commitment/ Partnerships on urban development financing, capacity building, programme, and project implementation.

Participation at the Africa Urban Forum will include; political leaders ( local authorities/ mayors, parliamentarians, ministers, heads of government/ states), policy and decision makers, business leaders, media representatives, representatives of urbanization and human settlements sectors and other related sectors, think tanks private sector, financial institutions, engineers, architects, NGO’s, civil society representatives ( urban residents, unions, professional associations, indigenous people, women , youth, religious organizations) etc. and citizens of the host country.

Particularly the forum will mobilize new stakeholders in the discussion to foster cross-sectorial approach, such as Ministers of Finances and Ministers of Environment.

The Forum is organized in partnership with UN-Habitat, UNECA, Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development, African Development Bank, Shelter Afrique, African Centre for Cities/ Cities Alliance, United Cities for Local Governments of Africa, and Centre for Africa Housing Finance, WRI, FMDV.

This Call for Proposals aligns to the main theme of the African Urban Forum, Sustainable Urbanization for Africa’s Transformation: Agenda 2063”; and within the two sub-themes, Financing Urbanization for socio-economic transformation, and Sustainable and resilient urban development in Africa.

 

The side events will be held physically/in person prior to and after the main high-level and parallel sessions. The events are a product of coordination among Governments, Institutions, Private sector, Academia, NGOs, and civil society institutions and offer the opportunity to listen to different experts and delve into some complementary topics to the themes of the Forum.

The Call for Proposals is seeking technically sound proposals that not only focus on urbanization challenges and opportunities, but also foster inspirational ideas, best practices and innovative approaches on how to address sustainable urbanization in Africa, and that support widely the commitments on urban development, capacity building, programme, and project implementation.

The main objectives of side events are:

• Disseminate knowledge and provide evidence-based research.
• Share practices from experiences.
• Foster collaborations and partnerships.
  The organization of side event is free of charge.

Deadline: The side event proposal submission closes on the 15th July 2024 at 6 p.m. (Addis Ababa local time, GMT + 3)

Proposal Requirements and Evaluation Criteria

Any entity interested in organizing a side event during the Africa Urban Forum on Sustainable Development can submit a proposal. Owing to space and other considerations, each organizer cannot be involved in more than one side event. Please use the online form to submit your proposals, which describes the organizers, partners, panelists and speakers, and how the event would contribute to discussions on the main theme or one or more of the subthemes of the Forum.

The basic criteria for selection include the following:

• Given the inclusive nature of the Goals in general, priority will be given to side events organized by groups of three or more partners, sponsors or participants, or any combination thereof;
• The theme of the side event should relate to at least one of the subthemes provided above or be cross-cutting in nature; 
  Consideration should be given to gender balance and geography (including local government) in the choice of speakers and panelists; 
• The format of the side event should ensure broad stakeholder participation, including that of the private sector and major groups, and actively involve the audience;
• The outcome of the side event should inform the overall outcome of the Africa Urban Forum
• The side event should last no longer than 1 and 1/2 hours and should not overlap with the main sessions of the Forum.

Responsibility of Organizers
The logistics of the side events, such as room and virtual platform allocation and the setting up of audiovisual equipment, need to be arranged in collaboration with the side events coordinator. The organizers of the side events will be responsible for the following:

• Inviting speakers and panelists and handling their visa and travel arrangements (if applicable);
• Inviting participants from member States, major groups and other stakeholders;
• Preparing a summary report on the event and sharing it with the secretariat of the Forum;
• Publicity, reproduction of materials and media coverage; 
• Any catering services that may be required must be arranged through the designated caterers of the Forum and fully covered by the organizers (if applicable);
• Events should be conducted in English or French. Arrangements for simultaneous interpretation will be the responsibility of the organizers.

Proposals for side events should be submitted to KabeloN@africa-union.org adding in copy Birmaji.tola@un.org and giuseppe.tesoriere@un.org

A English copy of the Call for Side Events and Registration Form is available here
A French copy of the Call for Side Events and Registration Form is available here