Combining Social Cohesion and Resilience: The Experience of African Cities

Although today Africa has a low level of urbanisation, high demographic growth coupled with an ongoing rural exodus is now driving the highest urban growth rate in the world. The number of city dwellers, now standing at 500 million, will double over the next twenty years.

A change of course is crucial to respond to the challenges raised by an unprecedented urban explosion. Innovation, both technical and social, is required if we are to act more effectively.

Investments made in Africa will also have a decisive impact for the rest of the world. A large swathe of our common future is being played out on this vast continent, which will have to follow a development path with a lower carbon footprint than has been the case for industrialised countries to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement.

In Dakar, Ouagadougou or Antananarivo, AFD Group accelerate its actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, which concern us all. Our vision and our interventions are evolving towards linking together social cohesion and resilience, following the path traced by African cities.