Global urban developers and policymakers have backed the development of charter cities across Africa as a response to the continent’s rapidly expanding population. Convening at the New Cities Summit in Nairobi last week, the experts acknowledged that Africa remains the only continent projected to experience major population growth in this century.
According to a 2023 global report by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Africa’s population is expected to increase by 2.2 billion between 2030 and 2100. The report shows that by 2050, Africans will make up 25% of the global workforce, and over 40% by 2100. This demographic shift is fueling demand for bold urban solutions, with charter cities emerging as a promising model to complement and advance traditional development frameworks.
This call comes at a time when Kenya’s Finance Bill 2025 proposes to remove the accelerated 100% capital investment deduction on Special Economic Zone (SEZ) projects potentially making SEZ development less financially attractive to investors and affecting investment flows.
The Bill also proposes to eliminate the 100% investment deductions allowance of investments situated outside Nairobi and Mombasa Counties, where the total value of investment is more than KES 1 billion in the three prior years of investment.
Speaking at the New Cities Summit, Mark Lutter, Executive Director of the Charter Cities Institute, emphasized the importance of governance in shaping urban outcomes:
“Charter cities are new cities with better laws. Governance is essential—it determines whether people live in prosperity or poverty. Bringing key stakeholders together to share knowledge and best practices will accelerate the success of charter cities across the continent.”
Summit participants called on national governments and international partners to support this shift through targeted investments, technical assistance, and regulatory reform, signaling a new era in how Africa builds and manages its cities.
Charter Cities are new, investment-ready urban centers designed to stimulate innovation, attract capital and sustainable growth. Although SEZs are smaller and limited in regulatory scope, they are a crucial component of charter cities and are closely linked in the broader context of economic reforms. Disincentivizing SEZs would result in urban development without economic empowerment of the rising urban population.
Conversely, in a keynote speech on behalf of Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome, Byron Buyu, Secretary for Urban and Metropolitan Development, highlighted Kenya’s commitment to forward-thinking urban development:
“We are eager to deepen our collaboration with Charter Cities Institute and explore opportunities to advance capacity-building initiatives and pilot projects aligned with Kenya’s urban development priorities and scalable across Africa.”
Last year, the Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing, and Urban Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Charter Cities Institute to support the growth of resilient secondary cities across the country. The partnership aligns with Kenya Vision 2030 and focuses on climate-resilient development, decentralized governance, city twinning, and enhanced legal frameworks for effective urban management.
Borrowing from global benchmarks such as Shenzhen and Dubai, charter cities are designed as comprehensive urban ecosystems that tackle critical challenges like housing shortages, youth unemployment, and infrastructure deficits. Experts at the summit reiterated that regulatory flexibility at the city level is essential to unlocking Africa’s urban economic potential.
The summit also featured a Cities Catapult Showcase, spotlighting cutting-edge urban projects across the continent including Green Heart Kilifi and the Naivasha SEZ climate, Sherbro Island City in Sierra Leone and Uxene Smart city in Mozambique. Selected initiatives will benefit from early-stage support, including seed funding, technical guidance, access to investor networks, and long-term implementation partnerships.
