Maputo, Mozambique’s capital is at the top of the ranking for African cities with highest potential in terms of inclusive growth according to the 2015 Master African Cities Growth Index published on December 2.

For this third edition of the Master African Cities Growth Index/ACGI, 74 cities have been ranked based on their population size: big (more than a million), average (from 500,000 to a million) and small (less than 500,000). As for the results for inclusive growth, they have been subdivided in four: high (more than 50 points), mid-high (40-49.99), mid-low (30-39.99) and low (0 to 29.99).

The ranking is mainly based on features such as GDP per capita, access to water and electricity, health, education, use of banking systems, contribution of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to GDP or growth in households’ expenditures.

In the big cities category, Maputo whose inclusive growth figure was listed the mid-high class owes its first place to the substantial size of its FDI contribution to GDP, its environment which is favorable to businesses as well as the overall efficiency of present institutions. Mozambique’s capital stole the first position to Accra which was at the head of this ranking in 2013 and 2014 but fell to the 7^th position this year due to the various challenges the country is currently facing.

In the same category is Casablanca which arrives second as Morocco exhibits quite some stability in a region which is presently going through some hard times.

Lagos comes 3rd with the significant growth of its medium class.

Then follows in order: Abidjan, Dar es Salaam, Abuja, Accra, Lusaka, Nairobi, Kumasi, Port Harcourt, Rabat, Fes, Cairo, Kinshasa, Alger Brazzaville, Kigali, Yamoussoukro, Ibadan, Addis Ababa, Pretoria, Lubumbashi, Dakar, Tripoli, Kano, Kampala, Johannesburg, Kaduna, Douala, Alexandria, Mombasa, Durban, Yaounde, Freetown, Khartoum, Bamako, Lome, Cape Town, Ouagadougou, Cotonou, N’djamena, Luanda, Niamey, Port Elizabeth, Huambo, Antananarivo, Harare and Conakry.

Under medium-size cities

Mozambican city Matola leads the race in this section followed by Nouakchott, Libreville, Djibouti, Pointe-Noire, Tunis, Monrovia, Oran (Algeria), Kisangani (DR Congo), Maseru (Lesotho), Lilongwe (Malawi),  Banjul (Gambia), Bujumbura (Burundi), Bangui (Central Africa) and Asmara (Eritrea).

Under small-size cities

Windhoek (capital of Namibia) is first here. Then comes Victoria (Seychelles), Gaborone (Botswana), São Tomé (São Tomé & Principe), Port-Louis (Mauritius), Praia (Cape-Verde), Moroni (Comores), Bissau (Guinea-Bissau), Mbabane (Swaziland) and Malabo (Equatorial Guinea).