Header photo credit: Global Development Institute, The University of Manchester.

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Relationships between local authorities and residents

In addition to the centre–city interface, another set of papers explored the relationship between local authorities and the urban residents they govern. James Mensah (2022) observed that over 80% of Accra’s labour force is employed in the informal sector. However, the government does not give this sector the consideration it deserves. The sector suffers, due to the competition and struggle between the many factions competing for power over the city. Added to this is the contention ensuing from the jurisdictional overlap between the central and local authorities. The sector is also impaired by the way in which municipal regulations are formulated and enforced. Michael Roll (2022) notes that the urban changes implemented in Lagos from 1999 to 2015 were ineffective. He backs this assertion with evidence, by pointing to how the design, planning and implementation of the city’s regulatory framework marginalises the poor.

The last set of papers presented at the ACRC-convened sessions dealt with reform coalitions and how they insert themselves into governance spaces. Alice Sverdlik (2022) shows that urban coalitions played a vital role in the response to Covid-19. She points out that many groups, such as NGOs and business establishments, have allied with the government to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, Badru Bukenya (2022) questions propositions that relate modest Covid-19 impacts to government responses. He highlights that examination of events in Uganda reveals that the government’s pandemic response was ad hoc. He also highlights that the response was instrumentalised as a political tool to weaken the opposition further, with past and current military personnel participating in the exercises in a manner that stifled what little air existed for political opposition in Uganda.

Finally, Hita Unnikrishnan and Vanesa Castán Broto (2022) provided crucial insights into the landscape of co-production in the continent, in a paper investigating the future of urban energy in Africa. The research illustrates how diverse power arrangements, operating across several levels of interaction, impact the implementation of co-production with varying degrees of effectiveness.

Cities under strain

Overall, the papers in the ACRC-led sessions highlight the significant strain that African cities are under. Many of these difficulties are deeply rooted in political economy and governance issues at different levels. Typically, city governments lack the budgetary, political and bureaucratic capacity to manage complex problems because they are placed within multi-levelled systems of governance that are often dysfunctional and do not provide them with resources and authority to address their needs. The discussions concluded that African cities need social, economic and administrative transformation to meet the present and future challenges.

Further reading

All papers listed were presented at the DSA Online Conference, “Just Sustainable Futures in an Urbanising and Mobile World”, UCL, London, 6-8 July 2022.

• Abdulai, A-G (2022). “The politics of development in Accra”. Paper presented at P11a panel on “Political economy of urban reform in Africa: From analysis to action”.
• Bukenya, B (2022). “The politics in the ‘Covid policy domainʼ in Uganda”. Paper presented at P11b panel on “Political economy of urban reform in Africa: From analysis to action”.
• Hickey, S, Kelsall, T, Mitlin, D and Schindler, S (2022). “Reframing the politics of urban development in Africa: A political settlements perspective”. Paper presented at P11a panel on “Political economy of urban reform in Africa: From analysis to action”.
• Hitchen, J (2022). “Unpacking the politics of development in Freetown”. Paper presented at P11a panel on “Political economy of urban reform in Africa: From analysis to action”.
• Machuki, G and Kanyinga, K (2022). “The politics of development in Nairobi City County”. Paper presented at P11a panel on “Political economy of urban reform in Africa: From analysis to action”.
• Mensah, J (2022). “Institutional and governance of informal markets in Ghana: A political settlement perspective”. Paper presented at P11b panel on “Political economy of urban reform in Africa: From analysis to action”.
• Mitlin, D (2022). “The contribution of reform coalitions to pro-poor change: Lessons from practice”. Paper presented at P11c panel on “Political economy of urban reform in Africa: From analysis to action”.
• Roll, M (2022). “Urban reform for or against the people? Reconsidering the case of Lagos and lessons for urban political economy analysis”. Paper presented at P11b panel on “Political economy of urban reform in Africa: From analysis to action”.
• Sverdlik, A (2022). “Understanding the political settlements and collaborative responses to Covid-19 in African cities”. Paper presented at P11b panel on “Political economy of urban reform in Africa: From analysis to action”.
• Unnikrishnan, H and Castán Broto, V (2022). “Challenges to co-production in post-colonial cities: A review of the landscape of co-production with focus on urban energy”. Paper presented at P11c panel on “Political economy of urban reform in Africa: From analysis to action”.

Header photo credit: peeterv / Getty Images (via Canva Pro). Balogun Ajeniya Market in Lagos, Nigeria.

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The African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) is convening a panel at the upcoming Development Studies Association (DSA) Conference on Wednesday 6 July: The political economy of urban reform in Africa: From analysis to action. It will showcase new work that uses a political economy perspective to understand the challenges facing African cities and the interventions and reforms that can address them.

Convened by Sam Hickey, Diana Mitlin, Tim Kelsall and Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai, the panel will comprise three sessions, focusing on political settlements analysis, dealing with Covid-19, and the role of reform coalitions in promoting more just and sustainable urban futures.

Save the date: Wednesday 6 July, 11:50-14:30 BST

1. Political settlements analysis

This session will focus on the use of political settlements analysis to advance understanding of the challenges facing African cities, featuring a conceptual paper and several city case studies. Expert chairs will facilitate an active discussion around key themes.

Reframing the politics of urban development in Africa: A political settlements perspective

Sam Hickey, Tim Kelsall, Diana Mitlin and Seth Schindler

Seeks to reframe the politics of urban development in Africa through applying a political settlements perspective.

Related reading:

• ACRC Working Paper 1 – Politics, systems and domains: A conceptual framework for the African Cities Research Consortium
• Forthcoming open access book – Political Settlements and Development: Theory, Evidence, Implications

The politics of development in Accra

Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai

Explores the influence of Ghana’s political settlement dynamics on the governance and development trajectories of Accra.

Unpacking the politics of development in Freetown

Jamie Hitchen

Aims to better understand how “competing” centres of power in Freetown shape development trajectories, who is driving and funding them, and how they are shaped by, and shape, political dynamics.

The politics of development in Nairobi City County

Michuki George and Karuti Kanyinga 

Draws from a historical perspective, to shed light on the nature of Kenya’s political settlement and how this has impacted the political economy of Nairobi City.

Urban reform for or against the people? Reconsidering the case of Lagos and lessons for urban political economy analysis

Michael Roll

Reconsiders Lagos’ urban reforms between 1999 and 2015. Widely regarded as successful, a different picture emerges when assessed from the perspective of slum residents, two-thirds of Lagosians. A political economy analysis is used to explain this outcome and explore alternatives.

Institutional governance of informal markets in Ghana: A political settlements perspective

James Mensah

In Ghana, local governments are legally sanctioned to have control over their jurisdictions. However, in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, informal actors appear to have more control over Accra’s informal traders than the officially sanctioned institutions, due to the power struggle in the jurisdiction.

2. The politics of Covid-19

A session examining urban management and governance under the stress of the pandemic. It will draw both on “top down” interventions and the remaking of bottom-up coalitions pressing for reform in Kampala, Lilongwe, Mogadishu and Nairobi.

Political settlements and collaborative responses to Covid-19 in African Cities

Alice Sverdlik and Tim Kelsall

A comparative analysis of the impact of political settlements and collaborative responses to Covid-19 in Kampala, Mogadishu and Nairobi.

Related reading:

• ACRC working paper 4 – Understanding the politics of Covid-19 in Kampala, Nairobi and Mogadishu: A political settlements approach
• ACRC working paper 5 – Towards a comparative understanding of community-led and collaborative responses to Covid-19 in Kampala, Mogadishu and Nairobi

Politics in the “Covid policy domain” in Uganda

Badru Bukenya

An investigation of the politics of Uganda’s Covid-19 response, exploring the major players, their motivations, and the implications of their (in)actions on the response.

3. Reform coalitions

A roundtable session featuring a panel of both academic and policy experts, including from the global South, to discuss the papers and their implications for a new generation of reforms in African cities. Chaired by Jo Beall, the discussants for Diana’s paper will be Beth Chitekwe-Biti and Caroline Skinner, and for Hita and Vanesa’s paper will be Lorraine Howe and Getachew Bekele.

The contribution of reform coalitions to pro-poor change: Lessons from practice

Diana Mitlin

Explores and analyses the role that reform coalitions can play in navigating the politics of African cities in pursuit of more just and sustainable solutions. Discusses the ways in which transformative change can be secured to address inequalities and create opportunities for low-income and marginalised groups.

Related reading:

• Diana Mitlin for The Conversation Africa – Citizen-government coalitions could hold the key to the reform of African cities

Challenges to co-production in post-colonial cities: A review of the landscape of co-production with focus on urban energy

Hita Unnikrishnan and Vanesa Castán Broto

Reviews over 150 published articles on co-production, to demonstrate subtle differences in the landscape of co-production across different sectors such as green and blue commons, transport, housing, and energy. 

In addition to the ACRC panel, two of our postdocs, Elizabeth Dessie and Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael, are presenting papers at conference sessions on Friday 8 July.

Being young and rural in the city: A longitudinal study of gendered livelihoods in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Elizabeth Dessie

A postdoctoral research proposal that draws on intersectionality to examine the livelihood strategies of migrant youth in post-pandemic Addis Ababa, in a post-conflict national setting. An intersectional perspective can generate new knowledge on subjective experiences of urban space. The paper emphasises the importance of such knowledge in integrating the voices of vulnerable youth into development interventions.

Workshop: Intersectional approaches to adolescent voice and agency: Gender and participation in the context of multiple crises | 11:50-12:30 BST

Elizabeth is part of ACRC’s youth and capability development domain team.

Strategic response to clientelism: Seeking formal housing through partisanship by quite encroachers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael 

An exploration of how Addis Ababa informal settlement residents, threatened with eviction for state-led redevelopment, sought formalisation through partisanship, working with the ruling party to gain favours in the allocation of replacement formal housing. The paper examines how, rather than resist displacement, they actively manoeuvred clientelist relations to defend and expand their informally secured gains.

Panel: The role of formal and informal political networks in the context of Development-Induced Displacement in urban areas and its impact on sustainable futures | 11:00-11:40 BST

Read more by Ezana in his article for The Conversation Africa about Addis Ababa’s urban development challenges, and in his write-up of ACRC’s session at the 2021 DSA Conference.

Header photo credit: peeterv / Getty Images (via Canva Pro). Overlooking an informal settlement in Lagos, Nigeria.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

Header photo credit: Kwame Kwegyir-Addo / Getty Images. Aerial view of the Tetteh Quarshie to Aburi road in Accra, Ghana.

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By Tim Kelsall, co-research director of the African Cities Research Consortium

What on earth is a political settlement?

A political settlement can be defined as an agreement or common understanding among powerful groups within a society about the basic rules or institutions of the political and economic game. Such institutions provide opportunities for those groups to acquire a minimally acceptable level of benefits, thereby preventing a descent into all-out warfare.

The analysis of political settlements is, to a large extent, an attempt to explain how that relationship between powerful groups and institutions shapes war, peace, and development outcomes, enriching some people and destroying the lives of others, and how, if at all, those outcomes can be improved.

Settlements and the city

Over the past decade or so, scores of authors have produced hundreds of political settlements analyses of problems ranging from industrial policy to women’s empowerment; but with only a few exceptions, those studies have lacked an explicit urban focus. This is surprising in some ways, since large cities are often crucially important to national-level politics as sources of political legitimacy or dissent, economic dynamism and rent.

ACRC aims to rectify this oversight. It will apply political settlements analysis to a study of urban systems and development domains, and use it to help understand and solve complex problems in African cities. 

It will bring to the table a set of distinct conceptual tools. The first is what we call a “tri-bloc” approach to mapping the configuration of powerful actors. Here, we ask which groups are nationally powerful, in the sense of being able to change or disrupt the settlement – are they gender groups, ethnic groups, occupational groups, religious groups, armed militias, street gangs, or some combination thereof? How do these groups align with the country’s de facto leader to form different “blocs”? Are they “loyal”, “contingently loyal” or in “opposition” to him or her? How strong are these blocs relative to one another? How internally cohesive are they? What strategies does the political leadership use to incorporate them into or under the settlement? And on what rents or resources does it rely?

Then we ask the same sorts of question at the city level. Who are the city’s powerful groups, who are its marginal groups, and how do they align with the city’s de facto leader? How are these groups integrated – or not, as the case may be – into national-level power blocs? What sources of rent and legitimacy do they bring? And what are the implications for the governance of urban development?

Solving complex urban problems

Put differently, by answering these questions, we expect to gain a better sense of how national and urban political power are intertwined, the systems and domains they feed on, and how they combine to make possible the resolution of some urban problems and make probable the perpetuation of others.

Answering these and other questions also allows us to map what we call the settlement’s “social foundation” (the powerful “insider groups” that make up the settlement), and to identify groups that are effectively excluded from, or marginal to, the settlement. In addition, it helps us to map what we call the settlement’s “power configuration” (the degree to which power is concentrated in the country’s top political leadership). These mappings yield a 2×2 typology and a set of working hypotheses about how the breadth of the social foundation and degree of power concentration influence elite commitment to, and state capacity for, inclusive urban development policy. Figure 1 illustrates this typology.

Putting together an analysis of the political settlement, city systems, urban development domains and our typological theory will, we hope, provide insights into where the greatest opportunities for progressive urban change lie, as well as pointers for whom to work with, when, and how.

Learn more about ACRC’s research approach in our working paper: ‘Politics, systems and domains: A conceptual framework for the African Cities Research Consortium’.

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Header photo credit: Abenaa / Getty Images. Kroo Bay informal settlement in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.