CoDesign Africa

Young people are flocking to cities at a rate that far outpaces global infrastructure growth—nowhere is this more evident than in Africa. Multiple constraints contribute to this gap: limited data, short-term political vision, and the absence of decent wage jobs in secondary cities and communities. Despite the barriers, the continent holds the torch. By 2030—the United Nations' target year for the SDGs—broadly 600 million young people will be in Africa's workforce and live in cities and communities. With 74 million international visitors annually, the continent will need to build 57,000 new communities yearly (each for 300 people) to meet demand. This growth requires 426,734 GW in energy, systems capable of recycling 872.87 million tonnes of waste and 259,920 km of rail to connect Africa's cities. These are not just numbers—they signal Africa’s role as a lab for a New Earth, “an announcement of the future,” in the words of Rem Koolhaas. CoDesign Collective is a City-of-Things Company building an urban readiness stack: a layered system of tokens, passes, platforms, and spaces offering full-stack support for young people, governments, and global institutions. Our ecosystem includes: Building Collective: a 360° turnkey consultancy for architecture, engineering, and cost advisory. The Change Collective: a network of builders, connectors, collectors, and investors creating new asset classes with high impact and return. 2030: visual open letters and unsolicited proposals for government visioning. Cosmos: GIS-based data platform to assist governments with planning the future. CRIBS by CoDesign: spaces for upward mobility and community. Empower-ium: a concept store for locally made furniture and merchandise. DEAL: Development Architecture Lab, an education platform and venture studio for infrastructure jobs. Archives of African Architectures: a portal for discovering Africa’s built heritage. Together, we build the New Earth. Join Us in building.