The African Development Bank reports in Tracking Africa’s Progress in Figures that Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city and the country’s trading hub, will outpace all other African cities in growth between 2010 and 2025, followed by Nairobi, Kenya; Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo; Luanda, Angola; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Describing urbanization as “a pan-African phenomenon,” the bank estimates that between 1960 and 2011, Africa’s urban population rose from 19 percent to 39 percent, and projects that 50 percent of Africans will live in urban areas by 2040.
Below is the bank’s list of Africa’s top-20 fastest growing cities.
|
CITY |
COUNTRY |
POPULATION |
% CHANGE |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
(thousands) |
|
|
|
2010 |
2025 |
2010-2025 |
||
|
Dar es Salaam |
Tanzania |
3,349 |
6,202 |
85.2 |
|
Nairobi |
Kenya |
3,523 |
6,246 |
77.3 |
|
Kinshasa |
DRC |
8,754 |
15,041 |
71.8 |
|
Luanda |
Angola |
4,772 |
8,077 |
69.3 |
|
Addis Ababa |
Ethiopia |
2,930 |
4,757 |
62.4 |
|
Abidjan |
Côte d’'Ivoire |
4,125 |
6,321 |
53.2 |
|
Dakar |
Senegal |
2,863 |
4,338 |
51.5 |
|
Lagos |
Nigeria |
10,578 |
15,810 |
49.5 |
|
Ibadan |
Nigeria |
2,837 |
4,237 |
49.3 |
|
Accra |
Ghana |
2,342 |
3,497 |
49.3 |
|
Kano |
Nigeria |
3,395 |
5,060 |
49 |
|
Douala |
Cameroon |
2,125 |
3,131 |
47.3 |
|
Alexandria |
Egypt |
4,387 |
5,648 |
28.7 |
|
Algiers |
Algeria |
2,800 |
3,595 |
28.4 |
|
Casablanca |
Morocco |
3,284 |
4,065 |
23.8 |
|
Cairo |
Egypt |
11,001 |
13,531 |
23 |
|
Ekurhuleni |
South Africa |
3,202 |
3,614 |
12.9 |
|
Durban |
South Africa |
2,879 |
3,241 |
12.6 |
|
Johannesburg |
South Africa |
3,670 |
4,127 |
12.5 |
|
Cape Town |
South Africa |
3,405 |
3,824 |
12.3 |
