Africa is already blessed with a growing youthful population and now several projections indicate the possibility of the continent leading with the biggest urban areas in the world.
Some studies explicitly delineate thirteen of the world’s 20 biggest cities will be in Africa by the end of this century. This will mean Africa will be more than one-third of the world’s population.
The growth of African cities attracts the attention of the global corporate community, as increasing urbanisation could transform the continent's education, environment and economic activity.
A recent publication by the Washington Post indicates that Africa is growing at “unprecedented rates, and shaped by forces both familiar and new, dozens of African cities will join the ranks of humanity’s biggest megalopolises between now and 2100.”
In the said publication, it's estimated that in 2025, as today, most of the world’s biggest cities will be in Asia. However, by 2100, the world’s biggest cities will be concentrated in 5 African cities.
The five cities which offer insights into the main forces that will shape the continent’s urban growth this century include Lagos-Nigeria, Khartoum-Sudan, Kinshasa-Congo, Mombasa-Kenya, and Abidjan-Ivory Coast.
United Nations projections predict that from its present population of nearly 1.4 billion people, Africa's population will approach 4.5 billion people by 2100, which is the staggering equivalent in population terms of two Chinas and one India.
Out of the projected growth of African urban areas of the 100 most populous cities in the world in 2100, 38 will be in Africa, according to the environment & Urbanisation journal.
Nigeria's biggest city, Lagos, is projected to become the world’s most populous city by the year 2100. Other African cities will also see a steep rise in their rankings, with African cities making up 13 of the 20 by century’s end.
Source: Abdul-Razak Mohammed (Real Estate Times Africa)
