Africa Cities by Population 2026

Africa Cities Overview

Africa is a continent that is rapidly expanding in terms of population, and this is reflected most clearly in its various sprawling urban populations. The top fifteen most populous cities on this continent all have in excess of two million residents, ranging from Lagos at 9M to Dar es Salaam at 2.7M. Nigeria’s Lagos is the largest city in Africa, with a minimum population of 9M (some estimates say the population is more than twice that number) – it is also one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, so the number is sure to increase. This is followed by Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (7.8M) and Cairo in Egypt (7.7M).

Some of the largest African countries, such as Nigeria and South Africa, have multiple cities with very large populations. In addition to Lagos, Nigeria is home to the cities of Kano (3.6M) and Ibadan (3.6M), as well as Kaduna (1.6M), Port Harcourt (1.1M), and Benin City (1.1M). Cape Town, in South Africa, has a population of 3.4M, while Durban follows at 3.1M. South Africa is also home to Johannesburg, with its 2M residents, as well as Soweto (1.7M) and Pretoria (1.6M).

However, these and other African countries also have many mid-sized cities. Egypt may have one of the largest African cities in Cairo, but it also has significant urban centers like Alexandria (3.8M) and Giza (2.4M). The continent features numerous cities with populations between 1-2 million, showcasing its diverse urban landscape. These include capitals such as Luanda in Angola (2.8M), Addis Ababa in Ethiopia (2.8M), Nairobi in Kenya (2.8M), and Maputo in Mozambique (1.2M). Other notable cities in this range include Tripoli in Libya (1.2M), Lusaka in Zambia (1.3M), and Yaounde in Cameroon (1.3M), demonstrating the widespread distribution of significant urban centers across the continent.