With the spate of bombings and terrorists attacks ravishing the northern parts of the country, it is no surprise that a study released yesterday by MasterCard has ranked Kano, Abidjan and Khartoum respectively as cities with the least growth potentials over the next five years in Africa out of 19 cities surveyed.

Lagos and Abuja came 13th and 14th on the index.

Accra, Lusaka and Luanda, the capital cities of Ghana, Zambia and Angola respectively, were identified as the Sub-Saharan African cities that have the highest potential for growth according to the MasterCard African Cities Growth Index. This is in contrast to the Nigerian cities held in fear of Boko Haram, a terrorist group that has carried out series of assassinations and bombings and gun attacks in its quest to enthrone an Islamic state in the north.

The MasterCard African Cities Growth Index was developed in the final quarter of 2012 and analysed 19 cities across Sub-Saharan Africa ranking them according to their growth potential between 2012 and 2017. The index rankings were developed from published historical and projected data on typical factors that impact cities' growth rates, including: economic data, governance levels, ease of doing business, infrastructure, human development factors, and population growth levels.

The index, produced on behalf of MasterCard by Professor George Angelopulo of the University of South Africa (UNISA), was launched yesterday at the second Africa Knowledge Forum hosted by MasterCard in Johannesburg, South Africa convening thought leaders from academic, business and government sectors. The forum explores how cities across Africa are driving national and regional growth, global competitiveness, inward investment, and management of natural and human resources more effectively.

Michael Miebach, president, MasterCard Middle East and Africa explaining why MasterCard developed this Index specifically for Africa, said, understanding the long-term growth potential of Africa's cities, and the resultant increase in African urban consumers has never been as important.