Cities in the south and north of Africa are the greenest major hubs on the continent, according to a unique study.
The African Green City Index, commissioned by Siemens conducted by the independent research organisation Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has measured aims and achievements of 15 major cities in 11 African countries with respect to environmental performance and policies.
The African Green City Index examines, for the first time, the environmental performance of African cities in eight categories: energy and CO2, land use, transport, waste, water, sanitation, air quality and environmental governance.
Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg from the south, Casablanca and Tunis from the north as well as Accra, Ghana, rank above average.
The overall result of the study shows that none of the 15 cities rank in the highest band ‘well above average’. “Even the best performing cities in Africa have room to improve their environmental footprint,” said Delia Meth-Cohn, Editorial Director for Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa at the EIU.
Six cities, mainly from the north and the south, scored ‘above average’, five cities are in the ‘average’ band. Luanda and Nairobi ranked ‘below average’ and Dar es Salaam and Maputo are in the lowest band, ‘well below average’.
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“The goal of the African Green City Index is to provide insights into the strengths and weaknesses of each city and start a dialogue about best practices in the area of green policies and infrastructures. With the Environmental Portfolio and the new Sector ‘Infrastructure & Cities’, Siemens is in the best position to support urban areas in Africa with green infrastructures,” said Siegmar Proebstl, CEO Siemens Africa.
The study also reveals that there is a strong correlation between a city’s environmental performance and the percentage of residents living in informal settlements. The fewer residents in a city living informally, the better the city performs.
This is crucial for Africa which is urbanising faster than any other continent and, as a result, is suffering from unplanned urban sprawl. The number of Africa’s urban residents more than doubled in the last two decades and they now account for 40 percent of the continent’s population. Africa has the world’s highest proportion of city dwellers in informal settlements.
Among the 15 Index cities, the average percentage of the population living in informal settlements is nearly 40 percent, ranging from an estimated 15 percent in Casablanca to an estimated 70 percent in Maputo.
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