AFRICA: Urban population to double - UNFPA

Via: BBC
Photo: BBC

Talking points:

• "The urban population of Africa will double from 294 million in 2000 to 742 million in 2030"
  


• "If policy makers could reduce the intensity of population growth, they would have more time to address existing needs while preparing to deal with future increases in urban population," Rakotomalala said. "The solution lies in reducing the rate of natural increase by improving the social conditions of the poor and advancing women's rights."
  


• "In Ethiopia, poverty was increasing faster in urban areas than rural ones...40 percent of the urban population was living in extreme poverty."
  


• "In sub-Saharan Africa, urbanisation has become virtually synonymous with slum growth; 72 percent of the region's urban population lives under slum conditions, compared to 56 percent in South Asia,"
  


• "Slum dwellers account for a billion people, of whom more than 90 percent are in the developing world. In Ethiopia, the majority of urban dwellers live in slums."

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