Presentación del informe 'Perspectivas Económicas de África 2016'. Ciudades sostenibles y transformación estructural

The economic transformation of Africa depends on unlocking the potential of the cities. How the continent is urbanised will be critical for its future growth and development. This is one of the main ideas that emerges from African Economic Outlook 2016, presented at the 51st annual meeting of the African Development Bank Group, held in Lusaka, Zambia, last May and which Casa África will soon present in Spain.

It is no coincidence that the main theme of the report is “Sustainable cities and structural transformation”, because the continent is urbanising at a record pace coupled with an unprecedented demographic boom: the population living in cities doubled between 1995 and 2015, reaching 472 million people. This phenomenon is being accompanied by slow structural transformation and, according to the authors of the report, the lack of urban planning has resulted in a costly urban sprawl.

Urbanisation is a trend that is profoundly transforming African societies. Two-thirds of the urban infrastructure investment to be made by 2050 has not yet been made. Urbanisation supported by appropriate policies can help boost economic development through increased agricultural productivity, industrialisation, services stimulated by the growth of the middle class, and foreign direct investment in urban corridors.

To discuss these and many other conclusions from the report African Economic Outlook, Casa África holds annual presentations in Spain. The planned presentation dates and locations are shown below:

• 20/09/2016 at 9am in Casa África’s Nelson Mandela Auditorium
• 20/09/2016 at 1pm at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Chamber of Commerce. Plaza de la Candelaria, 2. Edificio Olympo, 4ª Planta
• 21/09/2016 at 10am at the headquarters of the CEOE in Madrid. C/ Diego de León, 50

As always, access to the presentation of the report is free but timely prior registration will be required via the method indicated.

The presentation of the report will be the responsibility of Federico Bonaglia, Senior Advisor to the Director of the OECD Development Centre. Among his main responsibilities is the provision of guidance on key strategic issues, including the contributions of the Centre to the G20 and the post-2015 development agenda.

20/09/2016 África resiste ante el parón de la economía global y podría crecer al 4,5% en 2017. Casa África presenta un año más en Las Palmas de Gran Canaria y Madrid este informe de referencia, elaborado por la OCDE, el Banco Africano de Desarrollo y el PNUD.