Top 5 African cities with the worst traffic congestion

Africa’s rapidly urbanizing ecosystem is a tale of two cities, one brimming with potential and the other congested with traffic.

• Business Insider Africa presents the top 10 African cities with the most crippling traffic congestion in 2025.
• This list is courtesy of data from Numbeo.
• Lagos ranks number 1 globally. 

Long traffic bottlenecks continue to hinder the productivity of commercial hubs like Lagos, Nairobi, Johannesburg, and Cairo, which are growing in population and economic activity.

This inconvenience has become a multidimensional issue as it becomes more commonplace in many African cities.

For starters, time spent in traffic is time taken away from a potentially more productive activity, as a result, the economy is affected one honk at a time.

The economic repercussions of traffic congestion go beyond lost productivity.

Idle vehicles waste fuel, while stationary automobiles’ air pollution exacerbates urban health concerns, indirectly impacting labor productivity through higher sick days and healthcare expenditures.

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Additionally, there is the psychological impact that comes with sitting in traffic for hours, from safety concerns to mental fatigue, and the frustration of arriving late.

Workers who arrive late or flustered are less likely to completely engage with their job, which affects overall team morale and productivity.

With that said, here are the African cities with the worst traffic congestion, according to Numbeo’s most recent traffic index.

Top 5 African cities with the most crippling traffic in 2025