Land rights key to fixing Africa’s crowded, costly cities — World Bank
Nairobi — Africa needs to reform its systems for buying and selling land and invest aggressively in urban infrastructure to create jobs, end poverty and reduce cities’ high living costs, the World Bank said on Thursday. Africa’s urban population will double over the next 25 years, reaching 1-billion people by 2040, it said. But complicated procedures for land transactions, a lack of urban planning and under-investment in infrastructure connecting homes, jobs and shops are hampering development, the bank said. "How can we best prepare for the unprecedented wave of people moving to towns and cities to pursue their hopes and dreams?" asked the World Bank’s chief economist for Africa, Albert Zeufack, speaking on behalf of its vice-president for Africa, Makhtar Diop. "African cities, in order to be drivers for economic growth, in order to be the platforms for poverty elimination, really need to be connected and open to the world." The bank called on governments to make transport connecti...
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