Dar es Salaam most loveable city in Africa

It also has a large expatriate community.

Though no longer the country’s capital, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in Tanzania and remains the political and economic hub. There has been great investment in education, with an extensive programme to provide free primary schooling, efforts that were lauded by international bodies when enrolment rates reached over 90 per cent. The city is also home to the largest and oldest public university in Tanzania, the University of Dar es Salaam, which recently celebrated its 50-year anniversary and has seen a sharp increase in the number of registered students. There’s also the Institute of Technology (DIT), one of the leading institutions providing technical training in the region. There are also plans to revamp the neglected railway transport network. Millions has also been spent over the past five years to improve the cities roads, making travelling a lot more efficient.

Situated close to the equator, the city enjoys tropical conditions for most of the year. Though Dar es Salaam has its own magnificent beaches (including many exclusive resorts), the island of Zanzibar is also just a short ferry ride away.

In the same vein, Tanzania has been officially declared as Africa's top safari country, in a move likely to further catapult the country as a top tourist destination in the continent.

At the same time Price Water Coopers (PWC) survey has named ten most dynamic and future focused cities in Africa, whereas Dar es Salaam took the lead.

The report dubbed;  ‘Into Africa The continent’s Cities of Opportunity’ by PwC, concentrated on the continent’s 20 cities which were judged as most dynamic and future focused.

Apart from Dar es Salaam, other cities are Lusaka, Nairobi, Lagos and Accra, Abidjan, Kigali, Addis Ababa, Kampala and Cairo on opportunity index.

PwC survey, structured the report around the critical issues of the business community, as well as those of the office holders and other public authorities who are responsible for improving the collective life of each city examined here.

“African cities when being assessed need to be looked at through a different lens, as current standings and future potential tell different city stories,” the report said.

The cities were contested around economic opportunities which are driven by demands of the emerging middle class— consumers, technology, infrastructure, tourism, and financial services.

PwC survey, structured the report around the critical issues of the business community, as well as those of the office holders and other public authorities who are responsible for improving the collective life of each city examined here.

Despite scoring high on opportunity index Dar es Salaam was not featured in top ten overall index after being placed at position 15. Three East African cities Nairobi, Kampala and Addis Ababa featured in both top ten indices—opportunity and overall.

Others are Accra, Lagos, and Cairo. Also Dar city was not in the top ten attractive Foreign Direct Investment FDIs. Nairobi leads as the best city in Africa that attracted most FDIs followed by Accra and Lagos.

Others are Johannesburg, Cairo, Casablanca, Abidjan, Tunis, Algiers and Lusaka. The report is an eye-opener to policy makers since Dar city failed to feature in other areas due to lack of adequate infrastructure and human capital investment.