200805141303 | African urbanisation to hike

African urbanisation to hike

Maputo - The African Development Bank (AfDB) said on Tuesday that 12-13 million Africans would leave the countryside to live in urban areas in 2008, increasing the challenge of providing food and other services in cities.

The report on urbanisation, released on the sidelines of the AfDB's annual meeting here, said 250 million people in cities, or about 60% of the urban population in Africa, lived in precarious conditions.

It said that on current trends about 350 million people would be living in urban slums by 2020.

The projected increase in numbers, caused by an exodus from rural areas, would exacerbate the problems of providing health services, infrastructure and food, the report said.

The AfDB proposed financing for basic infrastructure and water sanitation in slum areas and said it would help advise municipalities on increasing their revenues.

It also advocated greater use of public-private partnerships to help increase investment.