UCLG Africa and Mayors from five major African cities participate in the first capacity-building workshop arranged by the new Urban and Municipal Development Fund (UMDF) at AfDB
Mayors from Antananarivo, Madagascar; Bizerte, Tunisia; Conakry, Republic of Guinea; Dodoma, Tanzania; and Libreville, Gabon, worked together with international urban experts at the Cities Leadership Workshop organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB) on 25 and 26 September in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
In April 2019, the African Development Bank launched the Urban and Municipal Development Fund (UMDF) to support African cities and municipalities to improve their resilience and better manage sustainable urban growth and development through planning, governance and quality of public services. The fund is structured around four main pillars: improving urban planning, improving project preparation (pre-investment phase), improving municipal governance and finance, and increasing support for integrated urban development.
The objective of the workshop was to test the proposed methodology and approach for intervening in African cities. The workshop allowed the mayors to present visions for their cities, major challenges they face and opportunities. The workshop included a number of international urban experts from both AfDB and research institutions plus representatives from important city networks such as the Cities Alliance and the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) , who was represented by Dr. François Yatta, Director of Programmes at UCLG Africa.
The meeting also provided UCLG Africa with a forum to deepen discussions with the AfDB’s Department of Infrastructure and Urban Development regarding the Bank’s contribution to the production of the next report on the institutional environment of local and regional government in Africa , as well as with the AfDB’s Financial Sector Development Department for technical support to the Territorial Africa Agency . These exchanges augur well for fruitful collaboration between the two institutions on these issues.
The Urban and Municipal Development Fund (UMDF) of the African Development Bank is a multi-donor Trust Fund intended to scale up interventions in urban development and drive sustainable growth in cities across the African continent.
More information on UMDF :
https://www.ndf.fi/project/urban-municipal-development-fund-africa-ndf-c100-0
https://www.ndf.fi/news/major-african-cities-participate-cities-leadership-workshop