Africa’s Urban Future Depends on Local Action: Why Strong Local Governments are Key to Achieving the SDGs

The Sustainable Development Goals may be global commitments, but their implementation depends on local action, Taibat Lawanson writes. In Africa’s rapidly urbanising cities, empowered local governments are essential to turn the SDGs into tangible improvements in people’s everyday lives – from housing and transport to basic services, resilience and inclusive governance.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) may have been agreed globally, but they will not be achieved without strong local governments. Cities, towns and municipalities are where many of the goals become tangible: in housing, transport, public services, green spaces, disaster resilience, environmental management and urban planning. This is particularly clear in SDG 11, the urban goal, which cuts across housing, mobility, heritage protection, environmental management, disaster risk resilience, green spaces, urban policy and regional planning. All of these areas require dedicated action, resources and technical capacity at the local level.

Africa is the fastest urbanising region globally, with urbanisation shaped by socio-economic inequality, a rapidly growing young population and poverty. Yet, with less than five years until 2030 – the deadline set by the United Nations for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals – many SDG targets remain far from being met. One major obstacle is the limited capacity of many municipalities to translate global goals into local policies, services and investments. Who is responsible for local implementation of the global agenda? What mechanisms should be in place to make local implementation work?

A strong case for decentralisation

The implementation of the SDGs requires multi-level and multi-scalar governance. Governance structures need to be integrated, inclusive, participatory and accountable. This makes a strong case for decentralisation: the transfer of power, responsibilities, capacities and resources from national to subnational levels of government.

Across much of Africa, however, progress has been uneven. Several countries have adopted some form of citywide administrative system as part of their decentralisation efforts, while several others rely on central government appointees, collective councils, or multi-tiered systems. In Seychelles and Angola, city mayors are appointed by the national government, while in Nigeria, state governors often act as mayors of capital cities and may devolve their powers through a Metropolitan Area Development Authority, despite the existence of elected local government chairpersons. Even though the Nigerian constitution directly mandates specific roles for local governments, they often function as appendages of state governments and therefore lack the political leverage and fiscal autonomy to effectively deliver the social contract to the people.

Poverty as a threat to sustainable development

The path to sustainable urbanisation is further hindered by the lack of fiscal autonomy among local authorities. Across Africa, municipal governments are heavily reliant on central government transfers. Even where they are able to raise revenue through taxation, this is challenging because a significant share of urban economic activity takes place outside the formal tax system. The informal sector is the backbone of the African urban economy, employing over 80% of the population, especially youth and women, who are often among those most vulnerable to poverty. When local governments are under-resourced or ineffective, they become a weak link in SDG implementation. In many cities, local communities respond by creating informal systems that help bridge critical gaps in infrastructure and governance. Urban informality can therefore be a form of resilience. But it also presents a real paradox.

The poverty penalty results in informal community residents paying more for basic services, while their businesses are also taxed heavily through ‘official’ fees, often collected daily by local governments. This penalty is exacerbated by the actions of local gatekeepers and other non-state actors who impose multiple arbitrary levies and forms of extortion. From Harare to Mogadishu, Accra and Kampala, these everyday acts of violence put significant burdens on local populations and businesses, and pose a real threat to the economic and social dimensions of the SDGs.

How to empower local governments

This is why functioning local governments are critical to sustainable development. They are key mechanisms for inclusive governance and essential providers of social services and basic infrastructure. If the SDGs are to be achieved, local governments need to be empowered – politically, fiscally and technically. But what does this require in practice?

The first step is to promote true decentralisation by ensuring the political and fiscal autonomy of local governments. Where necessary, constitutional amendments that recognise the local government as a key lever of development should be instituted and implemented. This must be accompanied by efforts to strengthen the technical capacity of local actors, including municipal governments and local communities. This will require targeted programmes aimed at improving the capacity of community leaders and public institutions to engage with each other and negotiate with external actors, including national governments and international organisations, in order to develop solutions that are fit for purpose – whether in policy, programming or local action.

Developing contextualised solutions

Finally, local practices and knowledge must be taken seriously The experiences and knowledge of informal communities are crucial to ensuring that contextualised solutions are developed and that co-benefits are produced. From flood control to heritage site conservation, cultural practices can be integrated into local government programmes. Women and youth navigate complex systemic gaps and are often the most vulnerable to local challenges. As a result, they tend to be the key drivers of local innovation, often pioneering context-specific, sustainable solutions that traditional approaches frequently miss.

The SDGs are self-reinforcing, but they cannot be delivered through national commitment alone. Meeting them requires multi-level governance, strong partnerships and empowered local institutions. In Africa’s rapidly urbanising cities, the path to sustainable development therefore begins with a local lens – and with local governments that have the authority, resources and capacity to act.