By Francis Ntow
Accra, Nov 14, GNA – Structural transformation in urban Accra for the past two decades have yielded less impact on people and the Ghanaian economy, a report from the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC), has found.
Professor Abdulai Abdul-Gafaru, Lead Researcher, made this known when he presented the findings of the research at a stakeholder meeting in Accra on Thursday.
He noted that structural transformation, which involved the movement of workers from low- and labour-intensive productivity sectors to high-productivity sectors, had not been “significant” in Accra’s urban areas.
This implies that sustained progress in neighbourhood and district economic development, land and connectivity, housing, and informal settlements have not seen substantial in the past 20 years.
“Rapid urbanisation has not led to a vibrant manufacturing economy, while employment opportunities become increasingly concentrated in services-oriented activities. This makes Accra a consumption city, Prof Abdul-Gafaru, said.
He also said the limited structural changes that had occurred, “merely involve the movement of labour from the low-productivity agricultural sector to other equally low-productive activities in non-tradable services and manufacturing.”
The Development Policy and Management professor attributed the situation to problematic city-national relations, financing and limited technical capacities of assemblies, and institutional fragmentation.
He called for effective citizen mobilisation, where multistakeholder coalitions was nurtured and sustained with a reformed mind around the city’s most critical development needs.
“Effective reform coalitions might help build consensus among different powerful urban actors and ensure the continuity of reforms across different political regimes,” Prof Abdul-Gafaru, said.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Diana Mitlin, a professor of Global Urbanism, University of Manchester, noted that the research, emerged from the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO).
The goal is to improve the effectiveness of the work of urban areas in Africa, including Accra, to better support the building cities, making them progressive, inclusive and prosperous.
She stated because of the research, they were leveraging the knowledge from the experts, community leaders, and policymakers, to help develop a waste management system in Old Fadama [Agbogbloshie, a large informal settlement in Accra].
“We have the first action research project that’s developing a composting solution for organic waste in Old Fadama. We’re drawing political and business elites on how to act differently to make Accra more prosperous and inclusive while addressing climate emergencies,” she said.
Mr Osei Bonsu Amoah, a Minister of State at the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, who also spoke with GNA said the government’s involvement in the study had provided them with insight into addressing the issues.
He pledged the government’s commitment to resolving the challenges outlined by the research, noting that some were being addressed under the decentralisation project.
The Minister of State called for attitudinal change in adhering to and enforcing existing laws on urban development, saying, “there are several laws that if we’re able to enforce, we’ll minimise these structural transformational issues.”
“Where do people put their houses, kiosks? Is it allowed or we just overlook it because we think it’s part of the human problem?” he quizzed, adding that without planning, there could not be any progress in the capital.
“The most important thing is enforcement. So, we’re strengthening our planning, including a medium-to-long-term agenda, which will make the city develop. The solution is making sure that
we take good care of what we’ve invested in and be bold enough to take certain decisions that will benefit all of us,” Mr Amoah said.
The research gathered data from political and bureaucratic elites, officials from various government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and metropolitan and municipal budget and planning officers.
Municipal and Metropolitan Chief Executives (MCEs), Chiefs/Traditional authorities, leadership of community-based interest groups, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and donors, were also involved in the study.
GNA