Africa is both a developing and an underdeveloped continent, despite its immense natural wealth.
While no Africa city ranks among the top ten largest cities in the world, Africa retains the title of the continent experiencing the world’s fastest rate of urbanization. 1
Ranking Africa’s Largest Cities
There is no absolute clear-cut way of determining the largest city. However, we have given metro population as the leading indicator followed by land area – then regional influence, and lastly, infrastructure.
Note: Population stats are from actual censuses conducted as well as credible projections or forecasts.
Nairobi, Kenya
The population: Nairobi’s metro is about 6.54 million people, occupying a land area of about 696 square kilometers (or 269 square miles).
Green city: The city holds the reputation of being “green city in the sun”, Nairobi is the only capital city in the world that is home to an expansive game reserve – the Nairobi National Park.
It is not uncommon to encounter stray wild animals on the road, especially lions and warthogs. With a pair of binoculars, you can easily peep through the national park while on nearby tall buildings.
Apart from lions and warthogs, you can easily see giraffes, zebras, leopards, antelopes, and so many other Savannah grassland species. The national park is a walking distance from the Capital city and the main airport – Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
Nairobi boasts of being the largest city economy in Central and East Africa. It has vibrant commerce and technology hubs.
Luanda, Angola
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda. It is the capital city of Angola and home to a metro population of 6.94 million people according to data provided by the National Statistics Bureau in 2014.
Rapid growth: However, being the fastest growing city in Africa in terms of population growth rate, it is estimated to reach 9 million residents by 2030.
Luanda is a busy seaport where the bulk of the country’s exports pass through. Some of the leading exports include oil, iron ore, diamonds, and fish. It’s leading imports include iron (the irony of exporting iron ore to import iron and steel), steel, machinery, coal, among others.
Inequality: Luanda has the reputation of being the most expensive city to live in not only in Africa but also in developing countries. Despite huge natural wealth, the poverty level in Angola’s biggest city is at about 53%; thus contributing high-level crimes in the city.
Cape Town, South Africa
Cheers: While Johannesburg is famously known as the ‘City of Gold’, Cape Town is famously known as the ‘City of Wine’ due to the many vineyards in the surrounding lands.
Cape Town is famed for its beautiful landmarks including the famous Table Mountain and natural harbors. It is perhaps one of the leading cities that attracts most tourists in South Africa. Cape Town is home to about 4 million people (as of the 2011 official census).
Alexandria, Egypt
Alexandria has a population of over 4 million people.The city is Egypt’s second largest city after Cairo, however, it’s the country’s largest industrial hub and the oil export hub.
Alexandria is famously known as the ‘Pearl of Mediterranean’ due to its great location along the Mediterranean Sea and its fair climate with great beaches.
Naturally, this beauty attracts millions of tourists from around the world, especially Europe.
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Dar has a population of about 4.36 million people covering a land area of about 1,393 square kilometers (or 538 square miles). The former capital city of Tanzania and its largest city, Dar es Salaam lives to the true meaning of its name as “the place of peace.”
Apart from being the place of peace, Dar (as fondly called) is the world’s Swahili capital. It is the city with the highest Swahili speaking population in the world. Swahili is the lingua franca of most countries in the East and Central Africa and parts of the Middle East (Yemen and Oman).
Dar is the largest port along the east coast of Africa and serves several landlocked countries in Africa.
