Africa’s population is growing and moving to cities at a high rate. This increases the demands on public services and infrastructure for the cities of today and tomorrow. Cities face huge shortfalls in funding to serve these new populations. Two-thirds of the investment in urban infrastructure that Africa needs by 2050 has not been provided yet. The public and private sectors will have to work much harder to fill this gap.
Sustainable urbanisation will be the key topic at Africa Day 2020.
EIB President Werner Hoyer, EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle and other high-level speakers will join Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal, and UN-Habitat Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif to share their experiences and expertise. They will address the challenges brought by the rapid growth of African cities and towns and look at how urbanisation can become a key driving force for the successful implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Ultimately, the objective is to achieve prosperity for all, without compromising on environmental and climate change imperatives.
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Individual stories speak far louder than figures and charts.
Discover how our work improves citizens' quality of life across the continent.
The EIB, the European Union’s long-term lending institution, will join the Sahel Alliance. The EIB’s intention to join the Sahel Alliance, an international initiative to strengthen support for challenges faced in Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad, was confirmed at the first General Assembly of the Sahel Alliance taking place this week in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott.
A programme coordinated by the EU bank finds evidence of microfinance impact in Côte d’Ivoire and demonstrates that the private sector can boost sustainable development
From massive transport projects to loans for small businesses, the European Investment Bank has backed Egyptian development since 1979.
Key investments around the world help create stability, sustainable growth and fight climate change everywhere. The numbers show high EIB impact through its projects outside the EU
A Namibia affordable housing scheme shows the way for green projects in the developed world – and provides reasonably priced homes to workers there and in Botswana.
When Feten graduated with an engineering degree from the prestigious Ecole nationale d’ingénieur in Tunisia, she thought she would have to leave her country to get a job in her field.
With UN-Habitat, we are looking forward to welcome our partners on the 27th of February to discuss sustainable urbanisation & showcase new initiatives that support Africa’s SDGs objectives.
Follow our participation during Africa Day 2020
From sorting waste in the streets, to limiting air pollution, or solving traffic congestion, several things could improve citizens' quality of life & build sustainable cities! See what Dakar's children have to say on the subject.
Women often struggle to access financing and other economic services. Gender-smart investments can make a real difference! That is why the EU and its Bank, the European Investment Bank, are committed to boosting gender-smart investments across Africa. Read more about SheInvest in our press release and discover more on our strategy on gender equality and female empowerment
This short film tells the story of an innovative mobile banking service, M-BIRR, provided by Ethiopian banks and Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), that allows locals to make financial transactions by simply using their phone. M-BIRR, which that takes its name from the birr, the country’s currency, is a fast, convenient and reliable way of sending and receiving money, paying for goods in shops or buying airline tickets, day and night, with a few clicks. This service is part of the mobile phenomenon that is transforming finances in Africa, where logistics is often difficult and people have to travel and queue long hours to access basic services.
“I think it is particularly encouraging because it combines the idea of inclusion with technology and open new markets, new possibilities for people, so this is something that revolutionises the access to the labour market and to entrepreneurial activities. This is something that Europe can learn from”, says Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The EIB supports MOSS ICT, the operator behind the M-Birr platform.
