AFRICITIES - The African Mirror

Oct

2022

Blaming poor labour conditions in Ghana’s transport sector on ride-hailing companies misses the deeper issues

RIDE-HAILING services like Uber and Lyft have become ubiquitous in many parts of the world over the past decade. Criticism of their business model has also become commonplace: ride-hailing companies are frequently accused of destroying traditional taxi businesses, undermining wages, and creating the digital equivalent of sweatshops. Though many of the complaints have emanated from wealthier countries in the West, there are growing concerns that such companies’ African operations are not above reproach. From Abuja to Cape Town, Cairo to Nairobi, researchers are documenting the precarious conditions in which drivers operate. Authors FESTIVAL GODWIN BOATENG, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for…

Sep

2022

By The African Mirror

Akin Mabogunje: Nigerian urban geographer who mapped the origin and trends of African cities

AFRICITIES

I was introduced to Professor Akin Mabogunje’s work when I joined the Department of Estate Management at the University of Lagos in 2011. As a new junior lecturer, I had to read the key text being used by my course leader. It was here that I first encountered Mabogunje’s work on urbanisation in Nigeria. I never met Mabogunje, who died in Lagos on 4 August 2022 at the age of 90. And though my first experience of his work was not as a student, today his writings play a key part in what my own students learn. Each year when…

Sep

2022

By The African Mirror

Tap-and-go returns to Kenya’s matatu industry, Africa’s wider minibus taxi industry could be next

AFRICITIES

SETH ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY KENYA'S ubiquitous matatus (minibus taxis) are getting a major tech upgrade as UK-based O-CITY rolls out contactless payment solutions to make commuting hassle-free. This comes seven years after the service's predecessor, Bebapay, Google's ticket-payment system for matatus in Nairobi was terminated, in large part due to push-back from the industry as well as from users. O-CITY - dubbed Lipafare in Kenya - has already digitised payments for more than 10,000 matatus and is upbeat about adoption, asserting its systems are regarded as convenient. "Matatu buses dominate transportation options across the country and are used by…

Aug

2022

By The African Mirror

Constant fear of eviction: how poor people experience life in Somaliland’s growing cities

AFRICITIES

MANY cities in Somaliland are growing rapidly. Climate change-induced displacement, insecurity, and population growth accelerate urbanisation. Yet, many urban residents live in dire poverty, lack adequate shelter, and have only limited access to basic infrastructures and services. Two recent research projects focused on experiences of urbanisation from the perspective of people living at the urban margins. One explored displacement and security while the other looked at infrastructure access. We found that both security and infrastructure access are deeply entangled in property relations. Property constitutes boundaries and shapes processes of inclusion and exclusion. It also influences urban experiences and differentiates city…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Africa’s free trade area offers promise for cities – but only if there’s investment

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT, AFRICITIES

THE African Continental Free Trade Area came into operation on 1 January 2021. This is a considerable achievement. The free trade area is now the world’s single largest market for goods and services, when measured by a number of countries, after the World Trade Organisation. It is also the largest in terms of geographic area and population size. If implemented as foreseen by the agreement, the free trade area will unlock significant growth for the African continent. The World Bank has estimated that by 2035, trade between African countries could expand by 81%, boosting output by US$450 billion, raising wages…

Jun

2022

By The African Mirror

Africa’s smaller cities are usually overlooked: they shouldn’t be

AFRICITIES

OFTEN when one thinks or writes about urbanisation in Africa, mega-cities or primary cities like Lagos, Nairobi, Addis Ababa or Kampala, come to mind. Little, however, is written about places like Gabés in Tunisia, Touba-Mbacké in Senegal, or Ibadan in Nigeria. Yet these are just three of an estimated 885 secondary, or intermediary, cities in Africa that already account for over 40% of the continent’s urban population. Their share is very likely to grow over time. Author ASTRID R.N. HAAS, Fellow, Infrastructure Institute, School of Cities, University of Toronto These cities have a critical role to play in Africa’s overall…

May

2022

By The African Mirror

Africa’s urban planners face huge corruption pressures: some answers

AFRICITIES

CORRUPTION is commonly defined as the abuse of entrusted power for personal gain. Understanding and tackling corruption at the city-scale is crucial because cities are increasingly becoming home to much of the global population. According to the United Nations, more than two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities by 2050. The fastest urban growth is happening in Africa and Asia. Author LAURA NKULA-WENZ, Lecturer and Researcher at the African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town In our Cities of Integrity project, we worked with urban planners and their respective professional bodies in South Africa and Zambia.…

May

2022

By The African Mirror

Dar es Salaam’s bus rapid transit: why it’s been a long, bumpy ride

AFRICITIES

INFRASTRUCTURE projects are often subject to political aspirations. But when they are not realised as promised or their costs multiply over the years, the projects turn into public controversies. After a while, the aspirations, promises and controversies settle as the infrastructure system becomes an integral part of the environment and society. Dar es Salaam Bus Rapid Transit is such a project. It was planned to improve urban transport by gradually replacing minibuses in Tanzania’s largest city. Author MALVE JACOBSEN, Post-doctoral researcher, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz Various challenges, like unclear construction plans, residents’ protests and unexpected costs, led to several…

May

2022

By The African Mirror

New forms of urban planning are emerging in Africa

AFRICITIES

RAPID urban growth and an increasing number of climate change related disasters, such as the recent floods in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, have put the importance of sound urban planning in Africa in the spotlight. Urban plans are seen as the key to achieving inclusive, safe and sustainable cities. But urban scholars have argued for decades that for plans to be effective we need to move away from the traditional way of doing things. This requires dropping a top down approach – master planning – and opting instead for strategic forms of planning that are targeted, flexible and participatory. Authors…

May

2022

By The African Mirror

‘Our hands are tied’: Liberia grapples with heaps of city waste

AFRICITIES

CARIELLE DOE AS the sunset over Liberia's vast West Point slum, youth leader Archie Gbezay shook his head as children meandered around dense piles of trash, playing catch with jars of old hair product plucked from polluted puddles of water. Gbezay, 34, has seen his neighbours in corrugated iron shacks grapple with flash floods, a crumbling coastline and a devastating Ebola epidemic. But he cannot come to terms with the state of the nearby beach, patches of sand barely visible beneath the rubbish."It threatens our existence as people and poses a serious health hazard," he said of the trash. "But…