Overview

The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed what was known to be normal. In the new normal, Connective Cities has also resorted to virtual formats of the dialogue events. Between the 7th and 14th of September, in intermittent virtual sessions, about 43 participants from 24 cities and representing 7 African countries and Germany, congregated to share best practices and develop project ideas in the areas of water supply, wastewater management and urban mobility.

The rapid urbanization in Sub Saharan Africa has seen an increase in the urban population and subsequently the demand for basic urban basic services such as water, sanitation and sustainable transport.  More than half of the urban population in SSA is yet to access these basic services.

This event provided a platform for utilities and cities to share on solutions to increase access to water supply, different approaches in management of wastewater and approaches in implementing sustainable urban mobility.

The conclusion of the event was crowned with six project ideas for Connective Cities to consider for further support in refining the concepts.

Keynotes

Introduction key note; Urban basic services and sector governance
Prit Salian, i-Consulting

Organisational instruments towards the reduction of Non-Revenue Water (NRW)
Linnea Foelster, Hamburg Wasser

Challenges and opportunities in wastewater management in Sub Saharan Africa
Lubabalo Luyaba, Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent, South Africa

Challenges and opportunities in urban mobility in Sub Saharan Africa
Claire Birungi, ITDP Africa

Financial advisory; pointers in donor funding
Clifford Waithaka, World Bank

Results

The contributions and discussions in the different working groups confirmed that most cities in Africa are faced by similar challenges yet there is a shift towards doing things differently as we adopt economically feasible, socially acceptable and environmentally friendly measures to address the gaps in provision of basic services. The interventions in the cities are however, worth learning from. The good practices were shared from Emalahleni (South Africa), Lusaka (Zambia), Kisumu (Kenya), Leipzig (Germany), Hamburg (Germany), Tshwane (South Africa), Malindi (Kenya), Nakuru (Kenya), Oforikrom (Ghana), Kampala (Uganda), and Kumasi (Ghana).

As diverse as were the good practices, so were the project ideas brought forth. We seek to increase access to water in communities in Emalahleni through decentralized systems and bulk water supply in Mbeya and add a twist in Lusaka by developing an integrated local area plan. Imagine using briquets made from recycled waste; Malindi intends to address the sanitation gap by not only containing the waste but converting waste to energy. We also leverage on other channels of learning by visiting cities that have successfully implemented projects similar to our ideas. That will be the case for the City of Tshwane. The city dwellers of Oforikrom and Kumasi can look forward to beautiful and well-lit streets which are less congested.

Connective Cities will offer customized support to the projects in line with the services we offer.