In recent years, Africa’s cities have begun to fill up faster than almost anywhere else on Earth, and the 2026 numbers make this case very plainly.
A 2025 study by the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies revealed that urbanisation across the continent is accelerating, with cities growing by an average of 3.5% each year.
Nearly half of Africans, numbering over 700 million people, already reside in urban areas.
In fact, the ten largest urban centres on the continent now hold a combined population of roughly 107.9 million people. This is more than the entire population of Germany, and every single one of these cities grew over the past year, some by up to 5.13%.
Some cities, like Kinshasa, are growing at a pace that would alarm planners anywhere else in the world. Others, like Alexandria, are expanding more steadily, a sign of a more mature, slower-churning urban economy.
What stands out most on this list is the geography of growth. No fewer than seven of the ten largest sit in Sub-Saharan Africa, and they are, almost without exception, the fastest-growing entries on the list. North Africa’s two representatives, Cairo and Alexandria, are older, more established metropolises growing at a comparatively gentle pace.
Nigeria alone places two cities in the top three, showing just how much of Africa’s urban future is being written in West Africa’s most populous nation.
Below is how the ten largest cities on the continent stack up in 2026, counting up from tenth to first, according to data we analyzed from World Population Review.
10. Alexandria, Egypt — 5,521,580 people
Alexandria, the great Mediterranean port city of Egypt, closes out the top ten with a population of 5,521,580. This figure is up 0.98% from 5,468,041 in 2025. However, it is the slowest growth rate on this list, according to data from the World Population Review.
Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great and once home to the ancient world’s most famous library, remains Egypt’s second-largest city after Cairo and a key industrial and shipping hub on the North African coast.
Alexandria is home to the Port of Alexandria, one of the largest and busiest ports in the Mediterranean Sea and the most important port in Egypt. It handles a huge volume of cargo, containers, and passenger traffic, and is regarded as Egypt’s main gateway for international trade.
Its modest 0.98% growth rate reflects a broader pattern in North Africa, where urbanisation is deemed to have already matured compared with the explosive expansion seen further south and west.
9. Nairobi, Kenya — 5,603,502 people
Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, climbed to 5,603,502 residents in 2026, a 3.52% jump from 5,412,741 the previous year. It is one of the fastest growth rates on this list.
Nairobi has built a reputation as East Africa’s commercial and technology nerve centre, often nicknamed the “Silicon Savannah” for its dense cluster of start-ups and financial services firms.
That reputation continues to draw migrants from across Kenya and the wider East African Community, fuelling growth that outpaces most of North Africa’s cities. Its impressive 3.52% growth rate in 2026 proves this.
8. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — 5,855,189 people
Dar es Salaam is Tanzania’s largest city and main port. The city grew by 2.12% over the past year, rising from 5,733,588 in 2025 to 5,855,189 in 2026, according to data from World Population Review.
Although Dodoma is Tanzania’s official capital, Dar es Salaam remains the country’s undisputed commercial heart and its busiest harbour on the Indian Ocean. This status is one that keeps pulling workers and businesses toward the coast.
This year alone, Dar es Salaam has pulled in about 121,601 people onto its shores, and the city is still filling up with more people.
7. Abidjan, Ivory Coast — 6,038,204 people
Abidjan is the economic capital of the nation of Côte d’Ivoire. The great city reached 6,038,204 people in 2026, growing by 2.68% from 5,880,497 people in 2025. It is one of the faster growth rates on this list.
While Yamoussoukro holds the formal title of political capital, Abidjan is where the country’s banking, shipping and manufacturing activity is concentrated. In fact, its port remains one of the busiest in West Africa, a magnet for the population growth reflected in this year’s numbers.
The city has added about 157,707 people to its population this year alone, a sign that its economic opportunities and vibrant urban life continue to attract migrants from across the country and beyond.
6. Luanda, Angola — 8,473,127 people
Luanda is the capital and largest city of the nation of Angola. The city added roughly 142,800 residents over the past year, climbing up by 1.71% from 8,330,309 in 2025 to 8,473,127 in 2026.
However, this is still one of the slower growth rates on this list.
Luanda’s growth has long been tied to the country’s oil economy, and the Atlantic port city remains the dominant centre of Angolan commerce, government and population by a wide margin over any other Angolan city.
5. Cairo, Egypt — 10,119,520 people
Cairo properly crossed the 10-million mark this year, reaching 10,119,520 people on the back of a 1.07% growth from 10,012,395 in 2025.
The capital of Egypt, Cairo is also the largest city in the North African nation. It is a historically rich and important city with over a thousand years of continuous history and attracts millions of tourists annually.
It sits on the Nile, a short distance from the Pyramid of Giza complex and is often considered the cultural capital of the Arab Middle East.
Its growth rate here, just like that of Alexandria, is modest compared with the rest of the list, and is consistent with North Africa’s generally slower pace of urban expansion.
4. Johannesburg, South Africa — 12,043,175 people
Johannesburg posted the fourth-fastest growth rate among the top ten, expanding by 2.88% from 11,705,483 in 2025 to 12,043,175 in 2026, according to data from the World Population Review.
As South Africa’s largest city and the economic heartbeat of the country, Johannesburg grew out of a 19th-century gold rush and remains one of the wealthiest cities on the entire African continent. The city is also home to roughly 74% of the country’s corporate headquarters.
The city traces its origins to the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886, a find that triggered a rush of prospectors and transformed a stretch of veld into a mining camp, then a town, and eventually South Africa’s largest city.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange, founded in 1887 during that first gold rush, remains the largest stock exchange on the African continent, and as of January 2026 it carried a market capitalisation of roughly R25.2 trillion, or about $1.53 trillion, across 431 listed companies.
3. Lagos, Nigeria — 14,881,845 people
Lagos is Nigeria’s commercial capital and former seat of government. It is also one of Africa’s most influential and populous cities. The city’s population grew by 2.48% over the past year, rising from 14,521,398 people in 2025 to 14,881,845 people in 2026.
West Africa’s leading financial centre, Lagos serves as the headquarters for many of Nigeria’s largest banks, telecommunications firms, multinational corporations, and technology startups, and the undisputed engine of Nigeria’s economy, contributing nearly 30% of the nation’s GDP while driving commerce, finance, industry, and innovation across West Africa.
It is also seen as the cultural and creative heartbeat of Nigeria. Its rapid urbanisation, vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem, and strategic coastal location have cemented its status as one of the continent’s most important economic hubs.
The city’s twin ports, Apapa and Tin Can Island, handle the majority of Nigeria’s cargo traffic, and Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Ikeja remains the country’s busiest gateway for both international and domestic air travel.
Lagos has also become the anchor of Nigeria’s technology sector: state officials say the city attracted more than $6 billion in foreign direct investment into its tech startup ecosystem between 2019 and 2024.
2. Kano, Nigeria — 17,510,247 people
Kano, the historic commercial hub of northern Nigeria, recorded a population of 17,510,247 in 2026, marking a 3.16% increase from 16,974,110 the previous year, according to data from World Population Review.
One of the oldest cities in West Africa, Kano, for centuries, has served as a major centre of trade, commerce, and Islamic scholarship. The city is a leader in agricultural commerce and agro-processing, serving as a collection and distribution point for commodities including grains, livestock, hides and skins, groundnuts, and sesame.
Kano is served by Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, one of the country’s busiest airports outside Lagos and Abuja, which supports both passenger and cargo traffic.
The city hosts one of Nigeria’s largest markets (Kano Kurmi Market) and serves as a key transportation node connecting northern Nigeria with neighbouring countries.
1. Kinshasa, DR Congo — 21,852,144 people
Topping the list is Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital, which surged by 5.13% from 20,786,403 in 2025 to 21,852,144 in 2026. This is by far the fastest growth rate of any city on this list.
Kinshasa has also overtaken Paris in population, making it the largest French-speaking urban area on Earth, even though French, which is the city’s official language of government, education and commerce, coexists on the street with Lingala as the everyday lingua franca.
As DR Congo’s political, economic and cultural centre, the city boasts a diverse economy built on services, trade, construction and manufacturing, and its river port handles a significant share of the country’s import and export trade, including the mineral resources that underpin much of the national economy.
Kinshasa is regarded as one of the world’s fastest-growing megacities by population, and its growth rate this year outpaces every other city on the continent’s top ten by a wide margin.
