A changing urban map

Angola's capital, Luanda, is expected to overtake Lagos as sub-Saharan Africa's most populous city by 2050, according to a new World Bank report, “Sub-Saharan Africa's Urban Awakening: Catalyzing Economic Growth and Job Creation”. Luanda's population is projected to rise 78%, from 11.4 million in 2025 to 20.3 million in 2050.

Lagos, Nigeria's commercial hub, is projected to keep growing — by more than 25%, from 12.8 million to 16.2 million — but to slip to second place as Luanda grows faster. Johannesburg is expected to fall from fifth to eighth among the region's 15 largest cities, growing from 7.1 million to 8.9 million as other cities expand more quickly.

748 million more urban residents

The report projects that sub-Saharan Africa will add 748 million urban residents by 2050, bringing the region's urban population to about 1.7 billion. The scale of that shift, the Bank argues, makes urban jobs, housing, transport and services one of the region's defining economic questions for the next quarter-century.

The figures are projections, not counts: they describe where current demographic trends point if they continue, and they will change as fertility, migration and economic conditions evolve. The ranking covers the 15 largest cities in sub-Saharan Africa.

Sources: World Bank report via OkayAfrica