The Mother City has been labeled the African city of opportunity in a recent research report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Cape Town ranked 24th out of all the 31 cities included in the global study and sixth out of the middle income cities category, behind Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Moscow, Shanghai and Mexico City.
Presenting PwC’s findings on Monday in Partnership with Wesgro , MayCo member for Transport and Urban Development, Brett Herron told The Newspaper “With an unemployment rate 13 percentage points lower than the national figure, and 10 points lower than the average metro, Cape Town is a city of genuine opportunity for millions of people.”
The Global cities of opportunity report of 2018 does not only categorize travel and work possibilities but also if a city can provide a balance between economic and physical security, nurturing aspiration, quality of life and the over all environment.
Head of Cities and Urbanisation for PwC Africa, Jon Williams stated, “Notable strengths include the city’s transport system, its business-friendly environment, the cost of living and doing business, and its natural beauty.”
The report places Cape Town against some of the world’s leading cities that are home to a vibrant economy, a high quality of life and thriving market centers.
These 30 global cities chosen represent a sizable proportion of the world economy.
The study considered 10 key variables such as, intellectual capital and innovation, technological readiness, transportation and infrastructure, health, safety and security, sustainability and natural environment, demographics and livability, ease of doing business and cost and economic clout.
The Mother City held a strong score in transportation and infrastructure, sustainability and the natural environments, ease and cost of doing business.
It scored lower in economic clout, technological readiness, city gateway and demographics and livability, proving that these are areas of improvement.
Addressing delegates, @brettherron speaks of how Cape Town is so much more than a tourist destination with the city recently voted #AfricasTechHub employing double the amount of people in the tech sector compared to Nairobi & Lagos #CapeConfidence pic.twitter.com/QZFfhjh3vT
— Wesgro – Cape Town & the Western Cape (@Wesgro) August 13, 2018
PwC further awarded Cape Town this title as it has also become dubbed the tech-hub of Africa. We may be positioned as the top in technological advances in Africa but global cities are ahead of us.
PwC’s Senior Manager for Cities and Urbanisation Dominic Boyle told The Newspaper,“Although Cape town ranks top in technology readiness in Africa, it lags behind other cities on a global scale. For example, Amsterdam alone host 900 Tech events a year and leading cities are continuously looking for ways to improve connectivity – although Cape Town is making progress in these areas, it falls short when benchmarked against other cities globally.”
The report highlights a number of improvements that the city can make in order to rise to the global ranks.
Some of these improvements include ensuring education is a priority, embracing technological innovation, growing tourism further and encouraging collaboration between government, business and citizens.
Picture: Twitter/ Kitamu