Experts Harp on Information Sharing, Collaboration for Future-ready Cities in Africa

Stakeholders in the built environment have stressed the need for African cities to address the growing demands for professionals with the expertise to harness opportunities and risks presented by rapid urban development.

They said this at a workshop jointly hosted by the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies (IADS), University of Lagos and CoDesign Africa with the theme ‘Building the 600 million African Super City’.

The keynote speaker, Prof. Olumide Olusanya warned of the challenges ahead, if African cities fail to promote and preserve cities that were liveable, environmental and socially friendly.

“What economists are telling us is that between Abidjan in Cote D’ivoire and Lagos for instance, in the next few years, there is going to be very serious development. And I mean one of the highest rate of development in the world.

“And so, we need to be ready for this. This is my line of argument.  Now the question is, how do we have this expected level of development and still be able to navigate through?

According to him, unless something is urgently done to harness the growth, there is going to be serious problems.

Highlighting the type of challenges such development could pose, he cited cost of construction, the method of construction and the way some persons are presently building, noting that they are extremely expensive.

He also cited inefficient costs, as well as the use of land, among others.

“So, when you have inefficiency compounding inefficiency, it affects employment, wealth creation and generally makes everybody poor and the situation keeps compounding itself.

“My takeaway therefore, is that we have to come together as a people and learn to do cost efficient housing, cost efficient city planning, everything based on productivity, that is, production and productivity, as well as develop capacity for production and wealth creation,” Olusanya said.

The Director, IADS, Prof.Ayo Yusuf expressed worry about the steady rise in population in Lagos and stressed the need to act proactively, to check the challenges associated with the situation.

“They are saying that the strip between Abidjan and Lagos, with about 600 kilometers, will take about 40 per cent of the population of the world and so, we have to set up this workshop to discuss it.”

According to him, it is expected that organisers will get the much needed information that can be shared with government and private initiatives, in order for them to take part in the built environment that is envisaged for urban areas in Nigeria, starting with Lagos.

“Preparation first of all starts with building capacities from below, producing students who can combine architecture itself with modern media, the IT and who will be able to move everything beyond the level the keynote speaker has gotten to.

“They also should be able to give us real African designs that will speak to our climatic condition, ensure that we are able to keep the environment clean and be able to build our houses in such a way that will bring to our consciousness that we are in the tropic,” Yusuf stated.

The founder, CoDesign Africa, Anthony Baba-Oladeji, expressed the need for urgent steps to be taken, to prepare Africans for a future that is inevitable.

According to him, with the Detty December fast approaching, there is signs that the people and city may not be ready.

“With the Detty December around the corner, we can see that our cities are not good enough to host people. We do not have enough houses, water resources, renewable energy and sewages among others, and we have potential for them. 

“About one quarter of the world would be young Africans, by 2050, so what are we doing about it? What kind of houses will they want to live in and what kind of people will they want to meet; and that is what we are talking about.

“So, the aim of this workshop is to first get people talking. The issue is that when it comes to solution, people are not talking to each other,” he said.

According to him, solutions are usually blocked in the private sector, finance, legal, etc, as people hesitate to share solutions.

“So, we want to do more collaborations, awareness, so that architects will know what developers need; developers know what financiers need and  government know what developers need, hence the need for this conversation,” he said.

Baba-Oladeji then urged all  stakeholders to build on some of the ideas generated from the workshop, saying that it should not just end on papers, or be all talks without action.

“We want to see a situation where proposals are bearing reality. We don’t want it to just be on papers. African youth is centred on the way our cities are built,” he stated.