In 2100, thirteen of the world’s largest twenty cities will be in Africa, and it is the only continent set to see exponential population growth throughout that time period. Three of those cities will be in Atlantic Africa. After staying stagnant from 1700-1807, it’s population growth has more than recovered ever since the 1900’s thanks to the end of the transatlantic slave trade, modern medicine well as reductions to infant mortality. Below are the top three cities listed where people in the New World can visit and potentially develop closer economic and cultural ties.
Lagos(Eko), Nigeria
Nigeria or Lagos was founded in 1503 by the Awori subgroup within the Yoruba. They were quickly conquered by the Bini people. Lagos/Badagry was also a port for the forced migration of an estimated 237,000 people to mostly Bahia, Brazil, Havana, Cuba and St. Domingue, Haiti to an extent. The Oyo kingdom and various ethnic groups continued to occupy it until British colonization by 1887. It became a safe haven for freed slaves repatriated from ships, Europeans and West Africans around the continent. The city grew due to lights and telecables being planted in the 1920’s and then ballooned during the 70’s and 80’s because of economic prosperity from oil found in the Niger Delta. People from various ethnic groups all over Nigeria and West Africa hustle and bustle there today, making it the finance centre of Nigeria. It is the second biggest city in all of Africa but it will overtake Egypt in 2035. It is also set to have a whopping 100 million people by 2100.
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic Of Congo
Kinshasa(formerly Leopoldville), is the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is set to be the second biggest city in the world with . It was mainly a Teke/Humbu fishing village before it was established in 1881 as a metropolis. It had some dark years during the Belgian colonization program(10 million people died). Afterwards, things were promising with a young Patrice Lumumba but he was deposed due to Cold War factors. The country descended into chaos and civil war for years. However, things are looking up since the population has skyrocketed and 20% increase in gross national income and the country has a large amount of natural resources, especially cobalt. Come learn French and Lingala in the beautiful capital!
Niamey, Niger
Located in the Sahel, it is home to the Hausa and Zarma people. During the 1800s, many Hausa were taken to Brazil and the Caribbean mainly from Northern Nigeria and Southern Niger. The city of Niamey was mostly a collection of villages until the 1890’s when it was colonized by France. There are large amounts of uranium deposits as well as a large population of young people. There is a lot of potential for it to be combined with Kano, Nigeria as a hub for Sahelian West Africans of the Muslim faith.