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Which SA city has the biggest growth potential?

Staff Writer

 ·9 Jun 2014

MasterCard has published its second annual African Cities Growth Index (ACGI), showing which of Africa’s biggest cities lead the way for inclusive growth potential on the continent.

The report shows that while South African cities are showing growth potential on the continent, they fall into the category of medium-low growth prospects, led by Pretoria as the country’s highest ranked city at 7th (out of 49 big cities).

Johannesburg is ranked as South Africa’s second biggest city for growth potential (13th), followed by Durban (24th), Cape Town (27th), and Port Elizabeth (32nd).

The Medium-Low category – which all ranked South African cities fall into – comprises cities categorized by stasis and drift, according to MasterCard, arrayed across the middle to lower inclusivity spectrum.

“Reasons for this drift may be lack of resources, low growth and reduced growth prospects, but more significantly their opaque or ambiguous strategic direction,” the group said.

“The goal of inclusivity may well exist in such cities, but attaining it is undermined where economic development and foreign investment policies are uncertain, infrastructure is neglected and resources are not allocated to long-term structural improvement.”

Biggest growth potential in Africa

Accra, the capital of Ghana, is the African city with the highest potential for inclusive growth, according to the report – while Casablanca (Morocco) and Freetown (Sierra Leone) are ranked second and third in the large city category, both with medium-high inclusive growth potential.

“Inclusive growth occurs when the benefits of an expanding economy are widely shared with the population,” said Dr Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, co-author and Chief Economist at the MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth.

“We believe that inclusive urbanisation is a prerequisite for inclusive growth, and so the ACGI is a lens through which African cities can be assessed as future investment destinations.”

Accra was the top-ranked city overall and in the large city category. The only African city with high inclusive growth potential, Accra has legislation, policy and resources in place to increase and sustain economic inclusivity among its citizens, MaserCard said.

Big cities are defined as cities with populations exceeding 1 million people.

According to the report, the greatest inclusive growth potential is concentrated in North and West Africa, with the top 6 large cities located around that area.

Top 20 biggest inclusive growth potential cities

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