Inside Africa’s first megalopolis – a 1,000km-long city spanning 5 countries to house half a billion people by 2100

WITH a horizon full of skyscrapers and a motorway set to span the length of five countries, Africa is fast becoming home to the world’s first megalopolis.

The sprawling zone stretches almost 1,000km along Africa‘s west coast – starting in Abidjan and ending in Lagos – and is set to house half a billion people within decades.

Africa is in the midst of a demographic revolution as its population continues to surge.

More and more high-rise towers, offices, shopping complexes and hotels are popping up along the five countries’ coastlines, making the boundaries increasingly blurred.

The world is now watching on as the first-ever megalopolis evolves.

And as its infrastructure keeps expanding, so will its population.

Africa is home to 17 per cent of the globe’s citizens, standing at 1.4 billion.

But by 2100 the UN predicts its population will almost quadruple to a staggering four billion – 40 per cent of the world’s total.

Experts believe some half a billion will live within the megalopolis – stretching from Abidjan in Nigeria to Lagos in the Ivory Coast through the countries of Ghana, Togo and Benin – by this time.

Even in the near future, the population of the mega region is set to surge to 51 million by 2035.

African Development Bank chiefs have already raised and earmarked a whopping £12.6 billion to create a new motorway along the Gulf of Guinea from Abidjan to Lagos.

It will be up to six lanes wide and will be toll-gate free as drivers will have chips placed in their license plate, Lydie Ehouman, a transportation economist at the bank, told the Guardian.

The evolving megalopolis will see minor cities transformed into major ones as intrigued citizens migrate to the coastal region.

According to experts, it could be at the forefront of an economic boom for the continent.

One city along the route set to undergo a facelift is Accra, the capital of Ghana.

Authorities in the country have unveiled a shining project worth almost £1 billion to bolster its tourism levels.

It will see facilities such as flash hotels, offices and shopping plazas take shape along 248 acres around the waterfront.

Architects from Adjaye Associates hope to morph the city into a “world-class tourism enclave”.

Other designers involved in the remolding are said to be eyeing up methods that have been used for hundreds of years for their builds.

Materials such as concrete and steel are set to be shunned for ones naturally available, such as clay and stone, reports Outride.

Global affairs writer Howard French believes the zone is on course to become “the largest zone of continuous, dense habitation on earth”.

The author told the Guardian: ” This [stretch] has come to be seen by many experts as the world’s most rapidly urbanising region, a ‘megalopolis’ in the making – that is, a large and densely clustered group of metropolitan centres.

“Abidjan, with 8.3 million people, will be almost as large as New York City is today.

“The story of the region’s small cities is equally dramatic.

“They are either becoming major urban centres in their own right, or – as with places like Oyo in Nigeria, Takoradi in Ghana, and Bingerville in Ivory Coast – they are gradually being absorbed by bigger cities.

“Meanwhile, newborn cities are popping into existence in settings that were all but barren a generation ago.”

But behind the glitz and glamour, experts fear the general population could get left behind as projects will pander to the wants of the wealthy.

Communication may stall between countries, meaning new rail lines and roads needed may not make it off blueprints.

Alain Bertaud, a senior fellow at the Marron Institute at New York University, told Mr French: “The best thing that could happen to west Africa would be if someone could convince these countries to seriously consider the experience of Asia.

“Density itself does not create prosperity.

“You will have to have lots more transportation, including new rail lines, new roads that link the coastal highway to the hinterlands and to small cities, where the cheaper land is.

“In India, we have seen that even building a corridor that crosses several states within the same country is difficult. In Africa they will need much better coordination.”