Housing Costs Soar Across Major African Cities as Urban Growth Outpaces Supply
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Rents have reached record levels in several African capitals, with Lagos ranked the continent's most expensive city for residential rents, as urbanisation outpaces housing supply.
Housing costs are rising sharply across major African cities as rapid urbanisation continues to outpace housing supply, forcing millions of households to contend with soaring rents, overcrowding and widening inequality.
According to Numbeo's 2026 Africa Current Rent Index, Lagos ranks as Africa's most expensive city for residential rents with a Rent Index of 23.4, followed by Abidjan in Cote d'Ivoire (23.3), Cape Town in South Africa (22.2) and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia (20.9). Johannesburg ranks seventh with a Rent Index of 14.0, Kigali sixth at 16.1, and Rabat tenth at 12.4.
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs estimates that about 45% of Africa's population currently lives in urban areas, a figure projected to approach 60% by 2050. Demographic projections by the OECD and the Sahel and West Africa Club indicate Africa will record some of the world's fastest rates of urban population growth over the coming decades.
A comprehensive study by the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC), titled Housing: Domain Report, argues that Africa's housing crisis extends beyond inadequate supply, with fragmented public policies, weak regulation of rental markets, rising construction costs and climate-related pressures undermining affordability. The research, conducted in Accra, Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Freetown, Lagos, Lilongwe and Nairobi, found that in Accra tenants are frequently required to pay between one and three years' rent in advance despite legal provisions limiting advance payments to six months.
Analysts argue that addressing the continent's housing crisis will require coordinated reforms to expand affordable housing, improve mortgage financing, strengthen land administration, invest in urban infrastructure and promote sustainable city planning, warning that without such interventions rising rents will deepen inequality and constrain economic opportunities for millions of urban residents.