Experts Identify Structured Funding, Power as Key Accelerators of Growth in African Cities

Stakeholders in the built industry, recently held a summit in Lagos, to proffer sustainable solutions to energy and security concerns in the country and African cities in general.

The summit with the theme, ‘Keys to the City; Mixer and PitchDay’, was an urban accelerator and mixer, where creative builders and energy developers converged to meet backers.

In his remarks, the organiser, Mr. Anthony Baba-Oladeji, Managing Partner for Co-Design Collectives, said that culture, creativity and critical thinking were not soft, optional extras. He described them as infrastructure, the literal soul and drivers of the economies, policies and the industrialisation of cities.

He called for intentional and systematic policies that would ensure that future development projects in cities are scalable, fundable, beautiful and bankable.

Baba-Oladeji, whose works explore culture as a driver of urban transformation and economic growth in African cities, added that such policies must also ensure that future projects are culturally resonant, as they are always missing during key discussions.

“That is what the thrust is today. One of the key areas of our discussions here today is; ‘Creative Ways of Doing Power and Industrialisation’. 

“What this means is that it is easy for one to talk to just an architect, if one is doing just one building. But when you start doing 10,000 to 50,000 or even 200,000 buildings or more, an estate, attention should shift from talking to just an architect, to involving a value chain. This will include energy suppliers, waste management, security, laws that govern the way people on ways to live together and more.

“We are basically looking at what it could take or what is to be in place when we start building a 50,000 to 200,000 people communities. We try to take a deep dive into how this could be handled. Find a way of interrogating the entire design, energy, security, waste and governance and that is why today, we try to discuss creative ways of doing power.

“You cannot build cities that are scalable if you are not thinking of power. At the scale, we must look at power. It is critical.

“We realised the built environment desperately needed its own accelerator. Keys to the city is that vehicle; an accelerator designed to create a better, structured path for culturally confident, scalable urban development. 

“It exists to empower developers like you to build the cities we actually desire and to ensure we are radically ready for the fast-approaching reality where one-quarter of the world’s population will be living in African cities. If we work collectively to discover these exact friction points, we can clear the path,” he stated.

According to him, it is not possible to solve a systemic, multi-million-unit problem with isolated efforts, adding that to truly get there, there is need to build an iron-clad coalition. 

“We must work simultaneously across every single pillar; with the bold developers in this room, with vision-aligned impact investors, forward-thinking government leaders, commercial powerhouses, innovation ecosystem builders as well as with the action researchers who map out our realities.

“Only together can we bridge this divide. We are no longer just real estate operators. We are city builders. We are nation-builders,” he said.

Speaking at the panel session, Mr. Miranghe Pela, Chief Executive Officer, Leoht, Capital, emphasized the need for better financial backing for the built environment.

He stressed the need to cushion the effect of power generation and distribution for the masses, and  identified private capital as one of the key ways of generating and distributing power to the people.

“The problem of power in this country can be solved to a large extent by private capital. From the architectural stage, begin to think of the solutions. Developers should avoid thinking of the grid but rather, how to provide their own power.

“I am coming from the standpoint of finance. First of all, as of today, it is not like we do not have power or energy. The only challenge is that power, the way it is, is self-generated and is expensive.

“This is because we are using either diesel or petrol. However, there are technologies now that could enable us to still be able to self-generate, but cheaper, that is more affordable, sustainable and that is by way of solar energy or through natural gas.

“This is because we are already here to submit that the grid is out of the question. So, this is the cheaper way that we can self-generate and the solution to this in terms of finance, is private capital within the economy and the country itself,” Pela stated.

He emphased the need for people to see power as an asset class, adding that investing hugely in power generation such as solar power project is a key way of raking in substantial profits in return, within a short period.

He regretted that people do not think towards that direction as something that could be done.

Another panelist, Seyigbena Hinvi, Managing Director, Legrand, stressed the need for vibrant and sustainable collaboration in the built and environment sectors.

“We at Legrand are part of this value chain. For instance, the moment you start thinking of building a house, an estate, we must start thinking of how to involve an architect, the designer, engineer and a lot more, including the OEM.

“We must also encourage investment. The way we invest is of importance as it has to do with how we organise our homes, what I have in my pocket and of course security. This is where partnership with various persons in the built environment comes in,” he stated,

He also urged people to prioritse their safety.

In his contribution, a Professor of Electrical Power and Energy Systems Engineering, University of Lagos, Olabisi Oluseyi, stated that energy must be seen to be available to all, irrespective of social or economic background.

“Energy should not be exclusive to selected privileged ones in the society. One must also think of the poor. Of course, it is clear that there will always be an imbalance in the society, but there must be a concerted effort to ensure accessibility to the less privileged.

“They are part of the larger society and whatever negative thing we see happening in the society today, insecurity and others, are as a result of inequality. 

“If we can accommodate the poor in our electricity agenda, we are sure to build a better future for all,” he stated.