Lagos Ranked 5th for Living and Working: Is this the reality?

A report by Brand Finance City Index 2023 has ranked Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria as the 5th best African city for living, working and investing. 

The report based its ranking on a global survey of close to 15,000 members of the public conducted in 20 countries in April 2023.

The survey which was conducted to measure perceptions of the world’s top 100 cities puts Lagos at 56.7 per cent behind Casablanca (Morocco).

It ranked Cape Town (South Africa), Cairo (Egypt), Johannesburg (South Africa), and Casablanca (Morocco) as the first four best African cities with 62.9, 60.7, 59.7, and 59.3 per cent respectively.

Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, also ranked as the sixth African city with 55.1 per cent. 

Cape Town, Cairo, Johannesburg, Casablanca, Lagos and Nairobi are the only six African countries that appear on the 100 world’s best cities as numbers 60, 67, 72, 76, 90, and 94 respectively on global rankings.

London ranked as the world’s best city for living and working

London (England) is crowned as the world’s best city brand in the ranking scoring 84.6 per cent, while New York (the United States) and Paris (France) come as 2nd and 3rd with 83.0 and 79.7 per cent respectively.

The Chairman and CEO of Brand Finance, David Haigh said, “London’s exceptional performance in the Index can be attributed to its global familiarity. Coming first on this particular measure, London has a huge advantage over its peers, leading to its success in ranking overall as the world’s best city.”

David also noted that “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.”

The CEO further explained that “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.”

The report also noted that Zurich (Switzerland) which ranked 17th on the global table with 72.0 per cent is the best city in the world for investment.