The history of the top 10 ghost cities in Africa is dumbfounding. These cities, spread across different African countries, remain fairly deserted. The objective to populate them with human settlement failed terribly due to economic or political challenges. Some were completed but remained unoccupied, while others were never completed. They mirror overambition or outright failure in resource management. Still, these urban areas give Africa a new face of beauty and a reason to explore them on your next visit.
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Top 10 Ghost Cities in Africa and Their Location
African ghost towns are sparsely populated or abandoned places. Ironically, some of them were thriving settlements that shut down due to environmental, logistical, political, or economic reasons. Below are the top 10 ghost cities.
1. Kilamba New City (Angola)
Kilamba New City sits near Angola’s capital, Luanda. It’s a famous Chinese ghost city in Africa. The Chinese funded its construction with the intent to provide housing for 500,000 people. It included commercial centres, schools, hospitals and modern infrastructure. However, it’s a ghost city in 2025 as most people can’t afford the exorbitant housing prices despite the Angolan government introducing a subsidy housing program to increase their occupancy.
2. Kolmanskop City (Namibia)
Kolmanskoinp City in Namibia. Photo/Arebbusch Travel
Kolmanskop City in Namibia has a special place in the top 10 ghost cities in Africa. This Namibian city developed from a mining town in the 20th century. History indicates that it had rich diamond reserves which dwindled in the 1940s and were eventually abandoned in 1950. Desert sand from the Namib Desert filled the mines decades later creating a stunning landscape for visitors. However, not many tourists visit.
3. Modderfontein Smart City (South Africa)
Modderfontein Smart City in South Africa would transform the face of Johannesburg so much to look like New York. The USD 4 billion Chinese-backed smart city is a futuristic project featuring the latest technology and housing among others. One of its plans was the construction of 50,000 top-grade luxury homes to cater for the moneyed elites in South Africa. However, the project remains grounded due to financial struggles.
4. Kigamboni City (Tanzania)
Sluggish development and lack of interest by investors puts Kigamboni City in the top 10 ghost cities in Africa list. The idea was to build a state-of-the-art satellite city with business parks, social amenities and luxurious apartments. Most of the completed houses remain unoccupied to date.
5. New Cairo (Egypt)
New Cairo in Egypt. The city was developed to decongest Cairo but most housing units and business complexes remain unoccupied. Photo/CNN
New Cairo’s development was inspired by the need to decongest Egypt’s capital, Cairo. Cairo has a population of over 22 million people. Traffic is a nightmare, so are some social amenities within the city. Despite billions of dollars being invested in building the New Cairo City, the uptake of houses remains very low due to their high cost. Same case to the city’s commercial centres. The unavailability of public transport to and from New Cairo also contributes to the slow housing and business uptake here.
6. Diamniadio Lake City (Senegal)
The biggest challenge that Diamniadio Lake City is grappling with in 2025 remains low occupancy rates. As an existing challenge, real estate analysts in Dakar, Senegal attribute it to exorbitant housing costs. The idea behind Diamniadio Lake City construction was to decongest Dakar, Senegal’s capital city.
7. Hope City (Ghana)
Ghana’s Hope City borrowed its architectural designs from Silicon Valley in California. The dream was bold; make Hope City the country’s Silicon Valley. Unfortunately, investors didn’t come through as projected forcing the project to stall indefinitely. Hope City is a real ghost place with nothing impressive to show beyond excavated ground now covered by weeds and rusty construction machinery.
8. Sebokeng (South Africa)
Just like the Modderfontein Smart City in Jo’burg, Sebokeng City is another of South Africa’s failed dreams. Hence, it features on this list of the top 10 ghost cities in Africa. The South African government aimed to expand this urban zone with massive housing development to solve congestion. Shockingly, none of the completed housing units can boast of occupancy up to now.
9. Konza City (Kenya)
Konza City in Kenya. Photo/Hao Finder
Konza Technopolis hasn’t lived to its marketing hype as Africa’s Silicon Savannah. Located 64km southeast of Nairobi City, Konza changed the Kenyan real estate narrative with its promise of being Kenya’s premier city for technology, innovation and business incubation/startups. Nearly a decade later, construction remains slow and target groups don’t show much interest in the project anymore.
10. Eko Atlantic (Nigeria)
Imagine how amazing this city along the Nigerian coast in Lagos would look like. Eko Atlantic City project lies on a huge chunk of land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean. It features a necklace of luxurious homes and business spaces. However, most of them remain empty due to the high renting cost involved. It hasn’t served its purpose to ease urban pressure on Lagos City.
High rental costs, funding challenges, and economic and political issues are some of the major reasons why the top 10 ghost cities in Africa exist. While the entire plan to decongest major cities is great, some of the projects are too ambitious. At the same time, completed ones are not for an average-earning African. Until respective players figure out their costing models, these cities will remain unoccupied.
