Lagos ranks 5th best African City to live, work, invest; 90th in the world

Lagos, one of the world's largest megacity has been ranked the 5th best African City Brand and 90th in the world, according to a report released by Brand Finance City Index for 2023.

The report is based on a global survey of 15,000 members of the public conducted in April 2023 in 20 countries on all continents to measure perceptions of the world's top 100 cities.

Lagos scores 56.7 per cent to place 5th in Africa. The best African City Brand is Cape Town in South Africa, which is also 60th in the world, with a score of 62.9 per cent.

Cairo, in Egypt places second in Africa with 60.7 percent. The city also placed 67th in the world, while Johannesburg in South Africa comes third in Africa and 72nd in the world, garnering 59.7 per cent.

Casablanca in Morocco has been ranked the fourth best African City Brand and 76th in the world after it scored 59.3 per cent.

However, London has been named the best city brand in the world, followed by New York and Paris. With a score of 84.6 out of 100, driven by its high familiarity among respondents worldwide, London has recorded stronger brand perceptions than any other city in the study.

Familiarity is understood as knowledge about the city gained through repeated exposure or direct experience, and it allows to form a deeper affinity for its brand.

David Haigh, Chairman & CEO of Brand Finance, said London's exceptional performance in the Index could be attributed to its global familiarity.

He said coming first on this particular measure, London has a huge advantage over its peers, leading to its success in the ranking overall as the world's best city.

"Knowing a city allows the public to form positive perceptions about it - to recognise its reputation and to consider it as the preferred place to live, work, study, retire, visit, or invest.

"High familiarity means a deeper understanding of its qualities and a broader reach of its appeal, allowing the city to draw significant economic benefits from inbound migration, investment, and tourism," he said.

According to Brand Finance City Index, to arrive at a comprehensive assessment of the city brands in the ranking, alongside measuring familiarity, the survey asked the respondents about the general reputation and their personal consideration of each city as a place to live, work locally, work remotely, study, retire, visit, or invest in.

It said the evaluation of preferences across these seven dimensions was complemented by perceptions of 45 underlying city brand attributes, grouped under seven pillars, such as Business & Investment or Sustainability & Transport.