“Our municipality has everything you can only dream about: hardworking people, natural resources, beautiful views and yet all of it is underdeveloped and underutilized. Investors are not rushing to us. What should we do and where can we start to attract more investors in our town?” asks Kyazze Yasin, Mayor of Njeru Municipality, one of the youngest municipalities in Uganda.

This is a question that many secondary cities, not only in Uganda but also in other developing economies, are asking. Also, this is the question that was the focus of discussion during a three-day Urban Expo convened on 5-7 September in Jinja, Uganda.

The Expo under the theme “Becoming investment ready: Unveiling the business and investment potential of secondary cities” was organized by the Urban Authorities Association of Uganda (UAAU) in collaboration with Jinja Municipal Council with support from the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development and Ministry of Local Government.

The event was supported by UNCDF and the Cities Alliance, with contributions provided by other UN organizations including UNDP, UN Habitat, Pulse Lab Kampala, UNHCR, IOM and the UN Economic Commission for Africa. The delegates represented a range of sectors including local municipalities, civil society, academia and the private sector from Uganda and 10 other countries.

Secondary cities in developing countries are often touted as the “engines” of economic growth. Unfortunately, in many cases this is more a vision than a reality. Whereas many cities do grow physically and in terms of total economic output under a combined impact of internal rural-urban migration and sometimes a refugee influx, there is no matching growth in productivity and improved living standards. Secondary streets are struggling under an ever increasing burden on their infrastructure and services, an overstretched economic absorption capacity, and mounting environmental challenges.

Yet, secondary cities can play a significant role in the socio-economic development of a country. They are teeming with immense business and investment opportunities which are under exploited and, if supported, can play a vital role in creating employment, uplifting the living standards of people, taming open urban migration and creating balanced and equitable development. An empowered and efficient system of secondary cities can double or even triple a country’s GDP.

“Government is committed to support secondary cities,” said President Museveni in a message delivered by Vice President Edward Ssekandi at the official opening of the inaugural Uganda Urban Expo in Jinja. Uganda is one of the fastest urbanizing countries on the continent; its urban population has been growing by 5.6 percent, almost twice as fast as the rural population. As is the case in many other developing countries, the prospects of good jobs, higher incomes and better living conditions in the cities will continue to attract Ugandans from rural areas to the cities. The question remains, where will all these people live and what type of services will they find in the urban areas? This increasing urban population, as is the case today, they’ll need affordable housing, safe water and sewage, effective drainage, healthcare and education, good jobs, and public transport.

How is this commitment translated into action and what needs to be done to make secondary cities investment-ready?

As a strategic partner, UNCDF sponsored and hosted several sessions in the symposium. One session jointly hosted with UN Habitat focused on integrated spatial development planning for structural development and investment promotion. Prof. Kadmiel Wekwete, former Director of Local Development at UNCDF, presented the keynote discussing the importance of integrated physical, economic and social planning in driving cities forward. Another session that UNCDF hosted together with the Cities Alliance discussed how secondary cities can access capital and debt markets for infrastructure development. UNCDF also contributed to sessions that delved into application of big data and other digital technologies for urban planning and management as well as on public-private cooperation. In all these sessions, UNCDF demonstrated how its last mile finance solutions can help secondary cities address the development challenges they face by providing reliable planning data and reducing transaction costs through digital technologies, improving the quality of capital planning and infrastructure projects, establishing financial vehicles for tapping into capital and debt markets, etc.

The Expo offered guidance and practical advice to participants on what it takes to make their cities investment ready and how to unlock their investment and business potential, from identification of business opportunities to financing and execution of projects. It also provided a platform for the cities to share their experiences and explore partnership opportunities with the other stakeholders present.

The organizers recognized UNCDF’s prominent role in making the Expo happen. “We are very grateful to UNCDF who has had trust in us from the very beginning. This event [the Urban Expo] would have never happened without your perseverance, strong engagement and support,” said Majid Batambuze, Mayor of Jinja and President of the Urban Authorities Association of Uganda.