The financing of city services in Southern Africa

This case study draws on research that investigated the financial sustainability of cities in the Southern African region. The research was undertaken by the South African Cities Network (SACN). The project was jointly sponsored by the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility and the World Bank. The contribution by SACN of the material for this document is gratefully acknowledged. The learning material presents an outline of the many challenges of financial sustainability and effective service delivery facing Southern African cities. It comments on issues such as rapidly growing populations of mostly poor people who do not form part of local revenues, of limited city authority and human resource capacity. Importantly it points to limited effort made by many cities to bring in more revenue and highlights this as a significant opportunity for improving city finances.