Urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Challenge of Access to Basic Services

The majority of the urban population of Sub-Saharan Africa lives in slums where access to basic services, such as water, sanitation, or electricity is low. There is a growing body of evidence showing that access to these basic services has significant effect on the well-being of the poor. As the progress to universal access is still very slow, this essay contributes to the understanding of the persistence of the situation by reviewing the recent empirical evidence on both supply and demand issues related to the provision of basic infrastructure in urban areas of developing countries