As it is repeatedly said by writers and experts of the field, urbanization plays crucial role for economic growth and cultural development of a nation. Unlike rural areas, urban centers are places where job creation accelerates via division of labor. The availability of infrastructures such as road facilities, electric power supply, telecom service, and other utilities like potable water, health centers, and hotels among others attract investors to put their money on economic activities in and the outskirts of big cities.
Dr Awoke Ashenafi is a demographer working in various institutions as consultant. As to him, the economic growth witnessed in the urban centers can be a pull factor for rural to urban migration in most developing countries.
However, this demographic process unless supported by national planning, policies and laws, it has its own demerits in creating slum areas and exacerbating criminal activities.
On the other hand, it has a positive effect not only for the growth of cities but also for the country’s development in general. Therefore, municipality heads and other government organizations need to try their level best to create conducive environment for the proper urbanization.
As to Awoke, currently, more than half of the world population is residing in urban centers and plays crucial role for the economic growth. It is predicted that more than 2.5 billion people will be dwellers of urban centers by 2050.
By the same token, in Ethiopia, it is anticipated that the population will rises to 112.8 million by the year 2025. Out of the current population of the country, only 20 percent are residing in urban areas and this makes the country one of the less urbanized countries in the world. Nevertheless, according to the World Bank report, the number of urban population is rapidly growing from time to time mostly because of migration from rural to urban areas.
Many studies conducted in the developed countries indicate that there is positive correlation between economic growth and urbanization. Some studies conducted in the developing countries also indicate that diversified labor created in urban areas contributes a great deal for the Gross Domestic Production of a given country.
In the Ethiopian context, a study was conducted in Hawassa town in 2014 and it indicated that from 1987 to 2012 urban centers were greatly expanded. Other studies conducted by the World Bank also showed that from 1989 to 2015 urbanization in Ethiopia expanded at a higher rate. But these studies have not been utilized as inputs for economic planning by many government organizations. As a result, they failed to provide positive contribution for the urban centers’ growth so far.
Recently, however, concerted efforts have been exerted to evaluate the opportunities and threats of urbanization. In this regard, special attention was paid to collect data from municipality officials and other pertinent bodies but it was unable to accomplish the study due to the out brake of COVID-19.
Shiferaw Adilu (PhD), an economist and a researcher, explained about the comparative advantages of land usage in urban centers comparing to that of the rural parts. In his explanation, he underlined the difficulty of achieving agricultural productivity in a country where subsistence farming is dominant. Among the reasons for this is economic value of the land utilized for subsistence farming is less than the land used for none agricultural sector.
For example, according to the Ethiopian context, a farmer who owns one hectare of land may produce grain only for his family consumption and supply very little to the market. On the contrary, the same plot of land in urban areas can be utilized to establish manufacturing industry or service firm which creates job opportunities for thousands and this indicates how the expansion of infrastructure adds the value of land in urban areas.
As a result of migration from rural to urban areas, horizontal expansion in urban centers is common and human needs are fluctuating up on showing continuous progress. Though food is a human being’s basic need, people consume only certain amount. Other needs on the other hand, are unlimited and diversified. Such needs create demand met by industrial production and service provision and urban centers provide market and induce economic growth.
In the Ethiopian case, Addis Ababa contributes considerable amount for the nation’s GDP which is 50 percent. Agriculture also contributes widely for the nation’s GDP which is 40 to 50 percent. Other cities unfortunately, contribute less than 10 percent and this indicates that there is economic imbalance even among urban centers because of most economic activities are concentrated in Addis Ababa.
Moreover, investors used to prefer Addis Ababa than other emerging cities for investment during the last three decades threatened by the prevailed ethnic conflicts and political instability in some parts of the country. The division between the so called natives and none natives people in various regions has also inhibited the flow of capital, ideas and technology to other secondary cities that in turn minimized the cities’ and urban centers’ role in contributing to the nation’s Gross Domestic Production.
The elite and the educated class also lack initiation to go and work in some regions because of the above mentioned problem. The absence of enforcing rule of law in some parts of the country to some extent made challenging for institutions to function their contracts in the way intended to be. As a result, many projects were interrupted.
In the 1990s investors who engaged in cotton plantation in Affar regions, for instance, gave up their business because the surrounding people sent their herds into the farm and the capital invested in the farm wasted. This was happened because the people perceived the investors as land grabbers that threaten their grazing land. Even though the investors appealed their cause to the local authorities, the response was giving deaf ear. Had the investment been flourished in the region, jobs would have been created to the local people and infrastructure such as schools, clinics and other businesses would have been expanded and the urban centers could have been economically booming.
There are numerous causes to be mentioned in this regard. Hence, the investors used to apply their investment in Addis Ababa and its outskirts instead of investing in other regions. As a result, the capital city is developed at the expense of other towns and urban centers. Therefore, the disproportionate growth between regional cities and Addis Ababa is the outcome of the wrong policy implemented in the past.
Commendably, at the moment, the government is committed to execute its duty of carrying out balancing development among the cities in collaboration with pertinent stake holders.
Aminalku Adamu is working in the Ministry of Urban Development and Construction as the head of Department of Urban Improvement Fund Mobilization and Finance Officer.
As to him, The Urban Infrastructural Institutional Development Program supported by the World Bank has striven to make urban centers to have better infrastructure, create sustainable job opportunities to the youth that strengthen their income generating capacity and financial self-sufficiency. The government in collaboration with the World Bank has tried its best for the fair growth of urban centers not only in population but also economically.
The Urban Institutional & Infrastructure Development Program (UIIDP) will help Ethiopia enhance the institutional performance of participating urban local governments to develop and sustain urban infrastructure, services, and local economic development.
BY ABEBE WOLDE GIORGIS
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD MAY 27/ 2021
