Can rapid expansion deliver a modern, liveable city?

Former Member of the Ethiopian Federal Parliament and Horn of Africa Political Analyst

Jigjiga’s transformation will not be decided by how quickly its main avenues change, but by whether urban growth produces reliable services, secure land rights and public institutions capable of planning decades ahead.

Jigjiga is no longer a modest regional town. It is the political, administrative, educational and commercial centre of Ethiopia’s Somali Region, and its physical footprint is expanding rapidly. Population growth, migration, private construction and public investment are reshaping the city. That expansion creates an unusual opportunity: Jigjiga can become a well-planned regional capital—or allow today’s infrastructure gaps to harden into tomorrow’s urban crisis.

The central question is therefore not whether Jigjiga should modernize, but what modernization should mean. For residents, it must mean services that reach homes and neighbourhoods. For businesses, it must mean predictable rules and fair taxation. For government, it must mean investing according to a long-term plan rather than responding to growth after problems become expensive and politically difficult.