ACCRA, Ghana’s booming
capital, was identified as
having the highest growth
potential of any city on the
continent, according to the
MasterCard African cities
growth index, launched in
Johannesburg on Tuesday.
Cities in Africa showed signs
their populations would
continue to grow, and the
continent was expected to
have the largest workforce in
the world by 2035, the index
suggests.
The continent also enjoys
improved perceptions of
governance.
Prof George Angelopulo of the
University of South Africa and
Prof George Roger of the
University of Cape Town
produced the index on behalf
of MasterCard.

The index was launched at the
second Africa Knowledge
Forum, hosted by MasterCard
in Johannesburg. The forum
draws together thought
leaders from academia
‚ business and government.

Accra, Lusaka and Luanda, the
capital cities of Ghana, Zambia
and Angola respectively, have
been identified as the cities
with the highest potential for
growth over the next five
years, according to the index.

While South Africa and Nigeria
are the only countries with
three cities in the index, none
feature in the top five.
While more established cities
offer the expected potential
for growth, other less
prominent ones are quietly
establishing themselves as
those with even higher growth
potential. Accelerated growth
factors included health,
education, governance,
infrastructure development,
and the ease of doing
business.

Harare (Zimbabwe), Kano
(Nigeria), Abidjan (Côte
d’Ivoire), and Khartoum
(Sudan) were deemed to have
the lowest growth potential of
the 19 cities examined in the
study.

Johannesburg, although an
economic powerhouse city,
achieved lower scores in
certain categories because of
lower growth expectations
owing to its relative maturity
compared with other African
cities. Johannesburg appears
eighth, while Durban and Cape
Town appear 10th and 11th,
respectively.

Prof George said it was up to
leadership to ensure they
capitalised on the growth.
"Johannesburg will not
disappear over night. It is a
well-established city and by
far the powerhouse of its
region. A balanced portfolio is
also needed for a city to grow
further," he said.

The forum is examining how
cities across Africa are playing
an increasingly important role
in driving national and
regional growth, how they
need to compete on the global
stage in order to attract
investment, and how these
cities urgently need to manage
their natural and human
resources more effectively as
they grow.

The index used data compiled
between 2009 and 2011 to
arrive at its findings. Factors
taken into consideration
included gross domestic
product, growth per capita,
household consumption
expenditure growth,
governance factors and ease
of doing business.

Dr Azar Jammine of
Econometrix said the rapidly
expanding population of
Johannesburg was an
advantage in making it one of
the fastest growing cities in
the continent.
"Fiscal balances have
improved enormously. In 2000
African countries were where
the US is today. Africa is also
getting its governance
gradually right," Dr Jammine
said.

MasterCard noted that
according to the United
Nations Human Settlements
Programme, the urban
population of Africa was
expected to triple by 2050 to
1.23-billion (from 395-million
in 2009), by which time 60%
of all Africans would be living
in cities or urban areas.
Economic adviser to
MasterCard Dr Yuwa Hedrick-
Wong said growth in
populations in these cities
could drive inclusive growth
for the continent with the
fastest growing population.
Net capital inflows to sub-
Saharan Africa are projected
to nearly double from
$43.4bn in 2008 to $86.1bn
in 2015, the World Bank said
this month.

Fiscal balances have improved
enormously. In 2000 African
countries were where the US
is today. Africa is also getting
its governance gradually right.

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