Lagos, Nigeria                                                                                                             http://www.nigerianmonitor.com/beautiful-photos-of-lagos-that-you-will-mistake-for-london/

This meeting focused on sustainable cities in Nigeria and more broadly the whole African continent.  The problem is mutual for African states, this problem is “trust” and this is hindering development in African cities and the overall society.  As one speaker simply puts it, “Mistrust can never lead to development.” Corruption needs to be addressed in African states. Slums need to stop growing, but cities need to start growing.

The Deputy Secretary General gave the example of Istanbul, Turkey as a city to model. Cities need to shift from consumption to production cities. There needs to be resilient buildings and affordable housing. This means more investment needs to allocated to infrastructure.  As the strikingly large part of the African population is youth, the goal needs to be to develop Africa to continue to grow and generate wealth for communities. The repeated focus by many speakers was digital infrastructure. This is an emerging untapped area that African people can master and use to develop Africa. Evidently, it is clear that successful economic growth and development initiatives in African states today need to take into account future trends and factors.

Meeting​: Transformation Toward Sustainable and Resilient African Cities

Date/Location​: Tuesday 17th July 2018; 16:30 to 18:00; Conference Room 12, United Nations Headquarters UNHG, New York, NY

Speakers​:

Dr.David Mehdi Hamam, Director of OSAA

H.E Princess Gloria Akobundu, CEO APRM Nigeria Agenda for Resilient Societies

Dr.Rami M.E Ahmad, SDG Special Envoy, Islamic Development Bank

H.E Khayar Oumar Defallah, Chairperson of APRM Focal Points Committee, Ndjamena, Chad

Dr.Julius Monzi Muia, Permanent Secretary, State Department for Planning

Dr.Elisabeth Pape, Minister Counsellor. European Union Delegation to the UN

Mr.Eddy Maloka, CEO African Peer Review Mechanism

Mr.Marcos Bonturi, Director of Public Governance, OECD

Written by: WIT Representative Mariam Elsaker