Editor's note: Alexander Ayertey Odonkor is an economic consultant, chartered financial analyst and chartered economist with an in-depth understanding of the economic landscape of countries in Asia and Africa. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

In the last few decades, countries across the African continent have been experiencing a rapid exodus of people from rural areas to urban centers. The region's burgeoning urbanization presents a bittersweet revelation for urban planners and policymakers. Why is that so? With cities accounting for the lion's share of the global gross domestic product (GDP), urbanization has become vital for stimulating economic growth.

However, the migration of rural dwellers to urban areas in Africa is linked with surging inequality, rising urban poverty and the proliferation of slums in the region. Urban planners and policymakers are grappling with snags that are constraining progress to improve the quality of life of urban residents. With a rapidly growing population, can Africa achieve inclusive urbanization?

While the region's growing urban population has the potential to spur economic growth, access to decent jobs and social services such as education, clean water, food, affordable energy, healthcare, housing and transportation is limited as a result of the large influx of people into urban areas. To provide a sustainable panacea to this nodus, germane policies should be implemented to harness the potential of urbanization in Africa. The effective implementation of evidence-based policies and strategies is paramount to addressing the challenges associated with urbanization in the region.

However, these pertinent policies and strategies cannot be implemented in isolation from infrastructure development. The reality is that the largest proportion of the continent is lagging behind the rest of the world in bridging infrastructure gaps. Since 2000, Africa has been allocating about 3.5 percent share of GDP to infrastructure investment. The hard truth is that this amount will not suffice, as the region will have to increase its infrastructure investment to 4.5 percent to close the current infrastructure gap. Interestingly, Africa has recorded significant progress in the last 15 years. During this period, African governments have been the major source of funding for infrastructure development. Apart from the substantial infrastructure investment from African governments, Chinese infrastructure investment in the region has been increasing steadily.

For example, according to a 2018 report by the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa, from 2013 to 2017, China's infrastructure commitment to Africa grew at an annual average of 10 percent. With China's EXIM Bank financing over 90 percent of the $3.6 billion Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway that was opened in 2017, the railway has cut travel time between the two cities in Kenya by 50 percent. This facility, together with several other ambitious infrastructure projects that were supported by China, is contributing significantly in promoting inclusive growth across urban centers as they are reducing trading costs, improving access to economic activity, healthcare, education, job opportunities etc.   

Similarly, China's infrastructure investment in Africa's energy sector is paying off. As Africa's urban population continues to grow the energy demand for household consumption and industrial production in urban areas is also increasing. This has prompted infrastructure investment to upgrade the production and distribution of energy in the region.

According to the International Energy Agency, access to electricity in Africa doubled from 9 million people a year between 2000 and 2013 to 20 million people between 2014 and 2019. With currently around 580 million people without access to electricity in Africa, a decline from 610 million people in 2013, this progress is largely attributed to contributions from only five countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Senegal. All these countries are benefiting from Chinese infrastructure investment in the energy sector. Highlights of a report (2016) from the International Energy Agency show that Chinese companies that operated as the main contractor were responsible for 30 percent of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)'s new energy capacity additions between 2010 and 2015.

While China is committing colossal resources to develop infrastructure across countries on the continent, it is important to note that these investments are not limited to energy and transport. China is also the only foreign country with the largest infrastructure investment in Africa's information and communications technology (ICT) sector. By continually strengthening ICT infrastructure development in Africa for several decades, China has demonstrated a strong commitment to developing the continent's ICT sector. It is therefore not a fluke that Africa is currently the epicenter of the world's mobile money industry – a feat the continent could not have attained without China's enormous investment in the ICT sector.

A report (2021) from the GSM Association indicates that SSA has been the central point for the global mobile money industry for more than a decade. By the end of 2020, there were 548 million registered accounts in SSA, the region contributing 43 percent of the world's total new accounts in 2020. Considered as an essential resource in Africa, mobile money is bolstering access to financial services, closing the gender gap, mitigating inequality and alleviating poverty. Through mobile money, both men and women in Africa have equal access to financial services. Mobile money has enabled women who could not access the services of traditional banks as a result of inadequate documentation, travel distance and cost barriers to make or receive payments and save and insure against risk. Mobile money services in Africa have proven to be a critical tool for promoting shared prosperity and fostering inclusive growth, particularly in SSA, where the largest proportion of the world's poorest population is located.

By subscribing to mobile money services, low-income households are not easily pushed into poverty during an economic downturn or loss of a breadwinner because they can access credit, and save and insure against risk. Also, through mobile money, low-income households in the region are able to access basic utilities such as healthcare, education, clean water and energy.

Admittedly, these achievements which align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals could not have been attained without China's commitment to developing infrastructure in Africa. As the saying goes "a friend in need is a friend indeed." China exhibited an unflinching commitment to close Africa's giant infrastructure gap when there was limited support from the rest of the world. It is therefore important for African countries to cooperate with China, which has the technical expertise to develop the region's infrastructure in a problem-solving process to achieve sustainable and inclusive urbanization.

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