A survey by Brand Finance City Index 2023 has revealed that Lagos has emerged as the fifth best African city with a high desire by people to live, work, and invest.
According to the survey, Lagos ranks 56.7 percent behind Cape Town (South Africa), Cairo (Egypt), Johannesburg (South Africa), and Casablanca (Morocco) as the top four African cities, with 62.9 percent, 60.7 percent, 59.7 percent, and 59.3 percent, respectively.
Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, also makes the list, ranking sixth in Africa with 55.1 percent, trailing only Nigeria.
Cape Town, Cairo, Johannesburg, Casablanca, Lagos, and Nairobi are the only six African cities ranked among the top 100 in the world, at 60, 67, 72, 76, 90, and 94, respectively.
Meanwhile, London (England) is named the world’s finest city brand in the rating, with 84.6 percent, followed by New York (the United States) and Paris (France), with 83.0 and 79.7 percent, respectively.
“The ranking is based on a global survey of close to 15,000 members of the public conducted in April 2023 in 20 countries across all continents to measure perceptions of the world’s top 100 cities,” according to the research.
In response to the study, the Chairman and CEO of Brand Finance, David Haigh, stated, “London’s exceptional performance in the Index can be attributed to its global familiarity.”
“By ranking first on this particular metric, London has a significant advantage over its competitors, resulting in its overall success as the best city in the world.”
“Knowing a city enables the public to form positive perceptions of it – to recognize its reputation and regard it as the preferred place to live, work, study, retire, visit, or invest.”
“High familiarity implies a greater understanding of its characteristics and a broader reach of its appeal, allowing the city to reap significant economic benefits from inbound migration, investment, and tourism.”
However, Zurich (Switzerland) is ranked 17th in the world with 72.0 percent, but the report states that it is the finest city in the world for investment as well as other criteria to live and work in.
According to the survey, “Zurich is a highly desirable destination for work locally, work remotely, invest, and retire, claiming the top spot in each dimension.”
“When all seven dimensions are considered, the city scores exceptionally well on reputation (4th) and consideration (1st), but a low score on familiarity (53rd) prevents it from taking a higher spot in the overall Brand Finance City Index ranking (17th),” it says.
