Urban Migration in East and West Africa since 1950

Abstract

Urban growth in sub-Saharan AfricaSub-Saharan Africa 1 is the least urbanized region in the world.Yet, home to the world's youngest and fastest-growing population, Africa has recorded faster urban growth than any other world region since 1960.Its urban population has been growing at an average annual rate of 4%-5% since 1960, at much lower income levels than Asia or Latin America.The United Nations forecasted that Africa's urban population is likely to nearly triple between 2018 and 2050.Cities are viewed as important engines of African economic growth, generating a much larger share of countries' GDP than their share of the population (McKinsey 2011; UN-Habitat 2016a).Cities are thus attractive to those in search for economic opportunity.Cities not only ofer higher wages than rural areas, but urban housing, schools, and health facilities also tend to be superior.Such perspectives of urban privilege, upward social mobility, and opportunity remain dominant motivations for rural-urban migration in Africa.Such enthusiasm should not mask the fact that, whereas in other parts of the world urban agglomeration generally has been associated with structural economic change and a move into more productive (formal) jobs, in Africa urban centers are often built around consuming the rents extracted from natural resources.Cities, therefore, have become dominated by locally consumed low-value (informal) services and goods, rather than tradable goods or services (Gollin, Jedwab, and Vollrath 2016).Over the second half of the 20th century Africa's rapid urbanization process (see Maps 13.1 and 13.2), amidst a comparatively poor economic performance, has therefore resulted in rising urban poverty with the majority of urban residents living in slums (Marx, Stoker, and Suri 2013).However, for most of African history, until the mid-20th century, rural-to-rural migration has been of greater prevalence than rural-to-urban fows. 2 Yet, throughout Africa, the onset of colonial rule accelerated urban growth and structural change, fueled by rural migrant fows (Coquery-Vidrovitch 2005, 4). 3 Maps 13.1 and 13.2 as well as Figure 13.1 illustrate those dynamics over the second half of the 20th century.Maps 13.1 and 13.2 show each African city with a population exceeding 10,000 in 1950 and 2015, respectively.

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