Cozy Jozi named Africa’s most influential city

A research project compiled by Forbes magazine and carried out by the Civil Service College of Singapore and Chapman University has put Johannesburg at the top of all African cities when it comes to global influence. South Africa’s economic powerhouse has once again proven to be a competitive player not just in the local economy but on a global scale.

The study highlighted this in particular commenting on the rapid economic growth that various African cities were currently experiencing, and put Johannesburg on the same global ranking as Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur, with Joburg sharing its spot with the two Asian cities at number 31. Generously speaking, this would be slightly below the halfway-mark of the 58 cities polled.

However, other than Johannesburg, the only other African city making the Top 50 list was Lagos. Nairobi and Kinshasa did not manage to break into the Top 50 on account of not meeting several of the study’s standards. The authors of the research project revealed that the key factors working against the improvement of many urban areas in Africa included lacking facilities in infrastructure and sanitation as well as issues relating to political instability and public safety, but said that they could observe changes in the making.

The top three spots of the list were occupied by London, New York and Paris (in that particular order), with Singapore and Tokyo surprising at spots four and five, respectively. Poor fiscal conditions across wide parts of Europe continue to plague the continent, giving prominence to various newcomers and high-risers, mainly in Asia.

The researchers involved in the study say that they took various factors of urban living into consideration, including travel connectivity, cultural diversity, technological advancement and financial clout in the cities polled.