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By Adrian Blomfield

The Associated Press

KIAMBU, Kenya 鈥� Turn into Tatu City on the outskirts of聽Kenya鈥檚聽capital, Nairobi, and it feels like entering a different world.

Even the country鈥檚 most reckless drivers are transformed, slowing to a crawl and not tossing trash out the window 鈥� thanks to surveillance cameras and rigorously enforced penalties for speeding and littering.

For the 5,000 people who have moved into Tatu, a 鈥渟tartup city鈥� that welcomed its first residents four years ago, the ruthless implementation of such rules makes the place appealing.

鈥淭atu has more law and order than other places,鈥� said Valerie Akoko, a digital content creator who moved in two years ago. 鈥淚鈥檝e never seen Tatu City dirty.鈥�

Situated on 5,000 acres, Tatu City aspires to be what its name suggests: a city, privately owned, that its designers hope will eventually have a population of 250,000. It already holds 88 businesses employing 15,000 people. They include CCI Global, which operates a 5,000-seat call center, and Zhende Medical, a Chinese medical supply manufacturer.

There are similar projects around the world. But in sub-Saharan Africa, champions of the concept hope that startup cities can address the continent鈥檚 urbanization conundrum. History suggests that as people move into cities, productivity increases, wages rise, exports grow, and a country gets richer. But in Africa, urbanization has rarely unleashed such economic transformation.

In theory, Africa should be prospering. The continent鈥檚 urban population is expected to grow by 900 million by 2050, according to the United Nations. That is more than the present urban population of Europe and North America combined.

But sub-Saharan Africa is urbanizing while still poor.

鈥淭owns and cities in Africa today simply lack the tax base needed to invest in the urban infrastructure needed to accommodate the tsunami of people being added to their ranks in a short period of time,鈥� said Kurtis Lockhart, director of the Africa Urban Lab, a research center at the African School of Economics in Zanzibar.

Weak property rights and political tensions can make the problem worse.

Even Tatu City has battled Kenyan politicians and politically connected businessmen. In 2018, the London Court of International Arbitration ruled in favor of the development鈥檚 multinational owner, Rendeavour, in a dispute with its Kenyan former partners, including a former governor of the central bank. The dispute delayed project development by several years.

Last year, Tatu City鈥檚 Kenya head, Preston Mendenhall, took the unusual step of accusing the governor of the county where the development is based of extortion, saying he had demanded land worth $33 million in exchange for approving its updated master plan. The governor denied it and is suing Tatu City and Mendenhall for defamation. No ruling has been made.

Still, the case for building new cities, complete with new infrastructure, is compelling to some. The Charter Cities Institute, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., argues that, done properly, such projects could drive growth, create jobs and 鈥渓ift tens of millions of people out of poverty.鈥� The institute sees Tatu City as a model.

Yet building new cities is hard. Africa is littered with failed projects.

A handful have shown promise. Angola鈥檚 Quilamba city, whose construction began in 2002, is arguably the most successful, with a population of more than 130,000. It was built by CITIC, a state-owned Chinese company, but is owned by the Angolan government.

Perhaps a dozen new city projects 鈥� from Zanzibar to Zambia 鈥� are under way in Africa with a chance of emulating Quilamba, experts reckon. Of these, Tatu is the furthest along, with 26,400 people already living, working or studying there.

Experts agree that the private sector must play a role in African urbanization, saying the states are too fiscally constrained to fill the investment gap themselves. Rendeavour, a private company with a multibillion-dollar balance sheet, has pockets deep enough to make a difference.

But leaving city-building to the private sector alone can cause problems 鈥� by worsening inequality, for instance. The average price of a property at Eko Atlantic, a new-city development on the outskirts of Lagos, is $415,000, far beyond the means of most Nigerians.

鈥淪tartup cities can serve as hubs for innovation and alleviate pressure on overcrowded urban centers,鈥� said Anacl谩udia Rossbach, executive director of the UN鈥檚 Human Settlements Program, or UN-Habitat. 鈥淗owever, to be impactful, they must prioritize inclusivity, affordability and integration with existing urban areas, ensuring they serve all socioeconomic groups rather than becoming isolated enclaves for elites.鈥�

A one-bedroom apartment in Tatu City sells for $45,500, still beyond the means of most Kenyans, but within reach of some in the emerging middle class. Kenya鈥檚 per capita GDP was $1,961 in 2023, according to the World Bank.

The development collaborates with Kenya鈥檚 government, which has designated Tatu City a special economic zone. That means companies setting up there are eligible for tax benefits and other incentives, making it a model of private-public partnership, experts say.

Tatu City also appeals to businesses and residents with its transparent governance structure and services that are often lacking elsewhere in Kenya, including its own water supply and energy grid. It falls under national law but can set its own rules on matters like traffic and what kind of houses can be built, with all plans requiring approval from Tatu鈥檚 management.

鈥淚f you look at the infrastructure, if you look at the utilities, if you look at the controls, if you look at the security, it is one of the best,鈥� said Sylvester Njuguna, who lives and owns a restaurant there.

Unlike many startup cities built far from urban centers, Tatu City is just 12 miles north of Nairobi, close enough to plug into its labor markets.

New city projects usually succeed, according to Lockhart, if they are close enough to a major urban center and house both a high-quality anchor tenant 鈥� CCI Global in Tatu City鈥檚 case 鈥� and good schools. They should operate under effective management and respond to market demand.

Tatu meets these criteria and, unlike many grandiosely conceived African city projects, it has grown organically like Rendeavour鈥檚 other city projects in Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and the Congo, according to Mendenhall.

鈥淲e are building what the market needs,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are not putting all the infrastructure on day one.鈥�