The process of urbanization in Africa has the potential to be the most important instrument for social and economic development and poverty alleviation if a comprehensive framework for urban growth is established. The timing to get urbanization right is critical as most urbanization in Africa is yet to happen.

This policy paper was developed under the guidance of the Expert Review Group (ERG), a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN-Habitat, the United Nations agency mandated to work on urban issues. The paper aims at summarizing potential opportunities for leveraging urbanization for economic growth in Africa and highlighting priority areas of engagement for a future joint UNDP/UN-Habitat task force. Furthermore, it provides a comprehensive but summarized shopping list of ideas to build a framework of action for this task force. The paper identifies key players and partners in the Africa region working on urbanization issues for designing sustainable partnerships and engaging in transformative collaboration in Africa.