Productive cities: reconciling urban growth with industrial performance
May 11, 2026 | 3:15 PM EAT - 3:45 PM EAT
Agora Build
Description
Africa’s urban growth is accelerating, making cities central hubs for industrial production, employment, and innovation. Turning this growth into sustainable economic performance depends on a set of concrete conditions that make the difference: access to productive land, integrated infrastructure and mobility, efficient logistics, and alignment between industrial needs and labor markets. By articulating industrial zones, logistics platforms, and transport systems within coherent urban ecosystems, cities can generate agglomeration effects, reduce costs, and create jobs at scale. In this context, this session highlights the levers that make it possible to reconcile rapid urban expansion with industrial dynamism, drawing on experiences from productive cities and practices that can be replicated across the continent.
