ADDIS ABABA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) on Friday urged the government of Uganda to accelerate its efforts to harness the potential benefits of urbanization for sustainable development.
The call was made by Edlam Yemeru Abera, Chief of ECA's Urbanization and Development Section, who emphasized the need to accelerate urbanization in Uganda's development and transformation agenda.
"Accelerated urbanization in Uganda presents immense opportunities and challenges that require strategic planning in order to harness the potential of urbanization for sustainable development," an ECA statement quoted Abera as saying on Friday.
According to figures from the ECA, Uganda's urban population is projected at over 6.4 million, and growing at 5.7 percent a year, making it one of the fastest urbanizing countries in Africa.
"Holding other factors constant, by 2040 the country's total urban population could hit 20 million from the present 6.4 million with urban development gradually shifting citizens away from subsistence agriculture to non-agricultural jobs in manufacturing and service industry," the statement read.
The ECA, which noted that cities account for close to 70 percent of Uganda's non-agricultural GDP, with the informal sector being a significant source of employment, further stressed that "urbanization is both a driver of growth and facilitator of development in Uganda."
Abera also noted that "successful planning and managing the ongoing process of urbanization is a precondition for Uganda to become an upper middle-income country, as part of achieving its Vision 2040 agenda."
"The ECA is closely working with Uganda's National Planning Authority (NPA) by providing technical support to develop a long-term national vision and strategy for harnessing urbanization to advance national development priorities so the workshop is important as we advance that agenda," said Abera.
The ECA made the call ahead of a high-level workshop, slated from August 1 to 2, to review the East African country's draft Urban Strategy and its associated 10-Year Perspective Plan.
The workshop is expected to bring together experts from the Ugandan government and the ECA to collect feedback and inputs from government officials and other stakeholders before the finalization of the strategy, it was noted. Enditem
