ADDIS ABABA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The links between urbanization and industrialization have been weak in Africa, underlining the urgent need to connect urban and industrial development given their interdependence and growth impacts, said a report launched on Wednesday.
The report by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said cities require better performing industrialization and industrialization requires better functioning cities, calling for deliberate efforts to link urban and industrial development in the context of national development planning.
Entitled, "Urbanization and Industrialization for Africa's Transformation," ECA's 2017 Economic Report on Africa examines how the continent can accelerate industrialization as a vehicle for Africa's structural transformation by harnessing opportunities arising from rapid urbanization.
Africa faces the challenge to accelerate structural transformation by harnessing the rapid urbanization on the continent to promote economic diversification with special focus on industrialization, said the report launched in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.
Presiding over the launch ceremony, Giovanie Biha, Deputy Executive Secretary of ECA, noted that reconnecting urban and industrial development in Africa through deliberate policies, strategies and investments is a priority for the sustainability of both cities and industries.
"As countries are developing overarching frameworks within which strategic targets for structural transformation are defined, national development plans offer an ideal context within which urbanization and industrialization targets could be linked," she said.
"In this way, urban and industrial strategies could be explicitly linked to broader national goals such as poverty reduction and improved well-being in both urban and rural areas."
Biha said available evidence suggests that urban and industrial development in Africa are disconnected, resulting in lost opportunities for job creation and improved well-being.
"It is therefore not surprising that Africa's cities are crippled by severe infrastructure and service gaps and are unable to generate employment at the level and scale required to meet increasing demands, especially for the youth," she noted.
Most of Africa is still predominantly rural but the situation is changing rapidly, according to the report.
By 2035, Africa's urban population is projected to reach 49 percent of the total population, representing considerable demands for employment, services, and infrastructure, but at the same time providing opportunities for economic growth.
African countries, under the right policy frameworks anchored in national development planning, can leverage the momentum of urbanization to accelerate industrialization, said the report.
Africa's urbanization is accompanied by a fast-growing consumer class with more purchasing power and reference for urban goods, said Biha.
Rising consumer demand presents an opportunity to shift into job-rich industrial sectors, she said, adding that African governments should target strategic sectors of growing demand and help domestic industry and value chains to develop.
The report covers 11 countries including Ethiopia, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, Mozambique, Cote d'Ivoire, South Africa and Cameroon.
