Cairo, Johannesburg, & Lagos are Africa’s Three Biggest ‘Markets’

Fraym, an Africa-focused data company, recently released its Urban Markets Index in which it explored Africa at city-level, ranking the continent’s largest urban clusters by economic activity, consumer size, and connectivity.

Very little data is available about Africa’s urban clusters…Most economic, social, and consumer data is provided on a national basis…But wealth and consumer power is never evenly spread across a country.

According to the Index, Cairo, Johannesburg, and Lagos ranked high on all three components and are the largest, wealthiest, and most networked cities in Africa.

Outside of the top three, each African city has a unique profile. Some, like Khartoum and Alexandria, are very large markets with many millions of emerging consumers. Others, like Nairobi and Casablanca, are highly connected gateways to their sub-regions and beyond. This reflects the diversity of the continent and the need to examine each city market as a distinct entity.” – Fraym CEO Ben Leo.

Perhaps surprisingly, the Index also finds that 37 of Africa’s top 100 markets are in a single country, Nigeria:

While Africa is often discussed as a monolith, even in Afridigest at times, it’s important to stay aware of the richness of diversity between and within countries. Moreover, as rapid urbanization continues to sweep the continent, investors & innovators would do well to understand the distinct urban clusters within Nigeria, for example, and elsewhere in Africa.

View the full report here (PDF).