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Astrid R.N. Haas

African Cities: Unlocking Financing for Urbanisation

Megatrends Policy Brief 11, 16.01.2023, 10 Pages

doi:10.18449/2023MTA-PB11

African cities need to raise USD 20-25 billion investment in basic infrastructure and USD 20 billion for housing to accommodate urban growth. This brief explores how improving creditworthiness, strengthening subnational financial intermediaries and pipelines of transformative investments may support this.

Aerial photo of Dakar, Senegal, in 2020.

Aerial view of Dakar, Senegal, in 2020. Five years earlier, it was supposed to become one of the first cities in Africa to float a municipal bond worth USD 40 million. Despite having completed all the regulatory steps and obtained all the necessary approvals outlined in Senegal’s laws, as well as having generated sufficient demand from investors, Senegalese President Macky Sall intervened and the central government withdrew its support. The bond was never issued.

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