Sahel and West Africa Club/Club du Sahel et de l'Afrique de l'Ouest

Planning for Urban Expansion: A Must-Read 📘 Making room for Africa’s cities Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics 2025: Planning for Urban Expansion, a joint report from the Sahel and West Africa Club/Club du Sahel et de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, the African Development Bank Group, Cities Alliance and UCLG Africa  provides the most comprehensive analysis of the continent’s urban transformation to date with detailed projections for urban population growth and spatial expansion through 2050 in over 11 000 urban agglomerations across 54 countries. These first-of-their-kind projections reveal important regional trends and spatial features that inform policy makers and urban planners in the design of sustainable and liveable cities. 📖 Join the conversation on Africa's urban expansion and explore key policy implication for urban planning, governance and financing provided in Africa's Urbanisation Dynamics 2025 ➡️ https://lnkd.in/e2eBFmHS 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚’𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 The key challenge facing Africa’s urban agglomerations is how to make room for their growing populations. Most of Africa’s urban areas will be built in the next few decades. Because of the rapid pace of urban expansion, it is crucial to strengthen the relevance, capacity and speed of urban planning.  𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 Effective land governance is pivotal for managing urban expansion. As cities grow rapidly, pressures on land governance systems will intensify. Strengthening these systems is essential for urban planning and attracting greater public and private investment, ensuring transparent land tenure and robust regulatory frameworks. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 Governments play a central role in shaping spending priorities through policy and direct investment. A cohesive strategy—combining vision, governance reforms, and regulation—is essential to attract and sustain investment in urbanisation. #AUD2025 #UrbanPlanning #SustainableCities #AfricasUrbanFuture

This week, OECD/SWAC held a working session with AUDA NEPAD to explore opportunities for collaboration in transforming food systems, fostering rural development, and advancing intra-African and regional integration within the framework of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP). Discussions focused on enhancing evidence-based policymaking, strengthening public-private partnerships, and promoting regional trade to support agricultural and food markets. A key priority was leveraging OECD/SWAC’s expertise in data-driven and spatial analyses to map food trade corridors—essential drivers of youth and women’s employment, healthier diets, and urbanisation in Africa. Looking ahead, OECD/SWAC and AUDA-NEPAD are committed to deepening their cooperation through joint research, knowledge-sharing, and targeted policy dialogues. These efforts will reinforce the implementation of the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan 2026-2035 and the African Union’s 2025 Kampala Declaration for Africa’s agrifood systems, ensuring that food systems are more resilient, inclusive, and capable of driving long-term economic development across the continent. #FoodSystems #Agriculture #RegionalIntegration #EconomicDevelopment AUDA NEPAD Estherine Fotabong Nana Toure Philipp Heinrigs Alban Mas Aparisi Koffi E. Zougbédé Jill Bouscarat

Notre rapport « Dynamiques de l’urbanisation africaine 2025 » fait l’actualité ! 📣 Le Point consacre un article à la transformation urbaine du continent africain en s’appuyant sur nos analyses. D’ici 2050, deux Africains sur trois vivront en ville : la population urbaine passera de 704 millions à 1,4 milliard. Une croissance sans précédent qui pose d’immenses défis en matière d’infrastructures, de logement et de services de base, mais qui représente à la fois une formidable opportunité pour le développement du continent. Comment accompagner cette dynamique pour en faire un levier de prospérité? 📖 Découvrez l’article ici 👉 https://lnkd.in/e63m68XJ 📘Retrouvez notre rapport pour en savoir plus https://lnkd.in/eAbKQUra #Urbanisation #Afrique #Développement #VillesAfricaines #DynamiquesUrbaines #OCDE African Development Bank Group Cities Alliance UCLG Africa - CGLU Afrique Sylvie Rantrua

🌍 We're excited to participate in the #N4G Forum in Paris this week, to discuss critical issues around nutrition in West Africa 🌾.   Nutrition, healthy diets and food security lie at the heart of our work 🍏. Aligning with the N4G momentum, we've launched a new interactive story exploring the rapid transformations in diets and food environments in West Africa: https://lnkd.in/ebYZCwgq 📲. West Africa's nutrition policies must keep pace with its rapidly changing food landscape 🏙️🍲. As urbanisation accelerates, consumers are increasingly turning to kiosks, shops and street vendors for their meals. This shift is having a profound impact on food availability, affordability and nutritional quality.   Dive deeper into our findings by reading the full analysis here: https://lnkd.in/g9BmqqpF 📖.   #Nutrition #FoodSecurity #WestAfrica #OECD #SWAC #HealthyDiets #Urbanisation #N4G2025 Photo: Ruth McDowall

Our new Director, Mrs. Nana Touré, was welcomed by Ambassador Sangdae Choi, Representative of the Permanent Delegation of the Republique of Korea to the OECD, last week. 🤝 This visit was a key opportunity to strengthen the already positive relationship between SWAC and Korea and to explore new avenues for collaboration building on the momentum of the 1st Korea-Africa Summit held last year. 👥 With the Sahel and West Africa Club/Club du Sahel et de l'Afrique de l'Ouest preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary and Korea approaching 30 years of OECD-OCDE membership in 2026, the timing couldn’t be more fitting. 🎞️ The discussions explored exciting avenues for collaboration, from leveraging Korea’s expertise in sustainable development to amplifying West Africa’s voice on the global stage. Together, we aim to address shared challenges like climate resilience, food security and regional integration—priorities that resonate with both SWAC’s mission and Korea’s strategic vision.🗺️ This meeting sets a strong foundation for future progress and we look forward to the next series of discussions! Dominic O'Shea Arlette HIRWA Inhoi Heo Youngshil KIM

We invite you to a free live training, hosted by Digital Earth Africa, showcasing tools co-developed with the OECD Sahel and West Africa Club/Club du Sahel et de l'Afrique de l'Ouest. The session will demonstrate how to track green spaces in African cities using code notebooks and data available on the Digital Earth Africa platform.  English Session: 🗓️ Wednesday, 26 March 2025 🕚 11:00 AM GMT 🔗 Zoom Link - https://lnkd.in/ecUz2Pw7 French Session: 🗓️ Wednesday, 2 April 2025 🕚 11:00 AM GMT 🔗 Zoom link will be shared soon. Jorge Patiño will set the stage, followed by Mpho Sadiki, who will guide you through the resources available on the platform. 📚 Interested in more training sessions via Digital Earth Africa? Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/emPzdTxp We look forward to having you join us! More info on the tools here: https://lnkd.in/e2Dpq-mS

🌍💡 Listen to the Voices of West African Women Food Entrepreneurs 💡🌍 We continue our series highlighting the voices of West African women food entrepreneurs. Today, we focus on Chigozie Bashua, founder and CEO of The Nut Place in Nigeria. 🌰 As a pioneer in the nut processing industry, Chigozie is transforming locally grown edible nuts into healthy food products. In this interview, she emphasizes the importance of accessible information for intra-regional trade, advocating for a centralized database to streamline access to buyer information, export documentation, and regulatory standards across ECOWAS member states. 🔊 “Access to information is vital and essential.”– Chigozie Bashua. These interviews were conducted during the public-private dialogues on intra-regional food trade in West Africa, held in Abidjan and Accra. As part of the #EATProgram, the dialogues convened regional food companies, governments and other stakeholders to discuss constraints, opportunities, and perspectives on food trade across the region. 🔦 If you want to know more about the event: https://lnkd.in/gFF52nDB #WestAfrica #WomenEntrepreneurs #AfCFTA #EATProject #Agriculture #FoodSecurity #WestAfrica #Trade #PublicPrivateDialogue #InternationalWomensDay #RegionalIntegration #ECOWAS #OECD #GIZ #IntraRegionalTrade #Accra

This week, at the second annual African Forum on Urban Forests, we co-organised the session Mapping and Monitoring Urban Forests: Open-Access Solutions for Climate Resilience and Green Equity in African Cities with Digital Earth Africa. During the discussion, Jorge Patiño presented key insights from OECD/SWAC’s analysis of nearly 7,000 African cities: ▪️ 78% of cities don’t meet the 3-30-300 standard—residents should see three trees, live in areas with 30% tree cover, and have a green space within 300m. ▪️As cities grow denser, tree cover declines, heat risks rise, and vulnerable communities are left exposed. ▪️Urban forests cool cities, improve air quality, and enhance resilience, but access is highly unequal. Open-access tools like Digital Earth Africa’s interactive notebooks provide data to map, monitor, and ultimately protect urban forests—an essential tool in climate resilience and green equity policy. SWAC/OECD is proud to contribute to this effort. #UrbanForests #ClimateResilience #GreenEquity #DataForPolicy Jorge Patiño Digital Earth Africa Johannesburg City Parks And ZOO (NPC) University of the Witwatersrand Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Africa Eco Cities (AFREC) Hub Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment - CAPSI Mpho Sadiki Padde Daniel Elhadi Adam Theo Bernhardt Bhekinkosi Moyo Brilé Anderson

By 2050, two out of three Africans will live in cities. How can urbanisation be harnessed as a force for inclusive growth rather than deepening inequality? In this Women Leading Change episode, urban economist Astrid R.N. Haas explains: ▪️ Why cities must have stronger governance and the power to make long-term investments ▪️The hidden economic impact of informal markets and why they must be integrated into urban planning ▪️How municipal finance can be reimagined to prioritise gender equity, transport, and childcare 🎧 Don’t miss this important conversation: https://bit.ly/4blYGAY 📖 Want to know more? Check out our latest report, Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics 2025: Planning for Urban Expansion 👉 https://lnkd.in/e2eBFmHS #Urbanisation #SustainableCities #Africa #UrbanPlanning #WomenLeadingChange #IWD2025 Leena Koni Hoffmann, Ph.D. Jennifer Sheahan

L’#Afrique est à l’aube d’une transformation sans précédent. Selon le #rapport « #Dynamiquesdelurbanisationafricaine2025 », produit conjointement par le Club du Sahel et de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (CSAO/OCDE), la Banque africaine de développement, Cities Alliance et Cités et Gouvernements Locaux Unis d’Afrique, la population urbaine du continent va doubler d’ici 2050, atteignant 1,4 milliard de citadins Lire la suite => https://lnkd.in/ehGPvFZJ #CgluaAfrique #OECD #ClubDuSahel #Urbanisation OECD-OCDE Sahel and West Africa Club/Club du Sahel et de l'Afrique de l'Ouest African Development Bank Group