MasterCard have just released their African cities growth index, produced by Professor George Angelopulo of the University of South Africa and Professor George Roger of the University of Cape Town.

"Accra, Lusaka and Luanda, the capital cities of Ghana, Zambia and Angola respectively, have been identified as the Sub-Saharan African cities that have the highest potential for growth over the next five years" according to Mastercard.

The MasterCard African Cities Growth Index was developed in the final quarter of 2012 and analysed 19 cities across Sub-Saharan Africa ranking them according to their growth potential between 2012 and 2017.

The Index rankings were developed from published historical and projected data on typical factors that impact cities' growth rates, including: economic data, governance levels, ease of doing business, infrastructure and human development factors, and population growth levels.

According to the the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, the urban population of Africa is expected to triple by 2050 to 1.23 billion (from 395 million in 2009), by which time 60% of all Africans will be living in cities or urban areas.

"This growth in urbanization, combined with the fact that the center of global economic gravity is shifting to dynamic emerging markets such as those found in Africa, means that the continent's cities will play a much bigger role in driving the economic growth of their respective countries," said Michael Miebach, president, MasterCard Middle East and Africa.