Urbanization in Africa

It is estimated that in 1900, about 89% of Africa's inhabitants south of the Sahara lived from the primary occupations of farming, hunting & gathering, cattle nomadism, and fishing (Aase, 2003:1) meaning that 11% or less were urban. At the start of the independence period in 1957, 14.7% of Africa's inhabitants were urban, in 2000 had it risen to 37.2% and it is expected to rise to 49.3% in 2015, in effect 3.76% to 3.35% per year (UN, 2002). The Nigerian city of Lagos that in 1963 had 665,000 inhabitants (Rakodi, 1997) and 8.7 million in 2000 is expected to become the worlds 11th biggest city by 2015 with 16 million inhabitants (UN, 2002). The urbanization of most of Africa is moving fast forward, especially south of the Sahara.

The earliest known cities of Africa emerged around the Nile Valley. Alexandria was founded in Egypt in 331 and is famous for the lighthouse Pharos, for a legendary library, and for the martyrdom of Hypatia of Alexandria. While more Greek papyri were preserved in the sands of Egypt than anywhere else in the ancient world, relatively few from Alexandria still remain. There were also many early cities in Africa south of the Sahara. Meroe (present-day Sudan) was one of the major cities in the Kush kingdom. For several centuries after the sacking of Napata in 590 BC, the Meroitic kingdom developed independently of Egypt, reaching its height in the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC. Meroe advanced in iron technology, and building construction dates back to at least 900 BC. Meroe was a great center of agriculture at its height.

Axum, capital of the Ethiopian kingdom lasted from the first century AD until about the 10th century AD. It had an extensive trade network with the Roman Mediterranean, south Arabia and India, trading ivory, precious metals, clothing and spices. Axumian stone artwork (monoliths has been preserved, and bear proof of their advances in quarrying, stone carving, terracing, building construction and irrigation.

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