A giant poster of MTN, one of the operators of GSM digital mobile phones, adorns a building in Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria.Africa is home to two cities with populations of more than 10 million people. Those cities are Cairo, the Egyptian capital, and Lagos in Nigeria.

　　More and more African cities are expanding quickly. Experts predict their populations will increase by millions within the next few years. Faith Lapidus has more in this report from VOA's Anita Powell in Johannesburg.

　　Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised the urbanization of Africa to the mayors at the C40 gathering.

　　"In 2011, there were 52 African cities with a population higher than one million people. By 2016, in only two years, there will be around 65. And that's a good thing."

　　However, the executive mayor of Johannesburg, Mpho Parks Tau, says this kind of growth creates its own issues.

　　"As people are coming to the city there isn't always adequate accommodation to have those people coming to the cities. A lot of them find themselves in inadequate accommodation in slum environments."

　　Like many people who live in Johannesburg, 24-year-old student Simphiwe Kahla came from somewhere else. He left his town in the rural Eastern Cape province to live in Johannesburg. The city is an important trade and transport center for Africa.

　　"Here, you actually stay on your toes. It keeps you on your toes, it's all about hustling, it's all about business. I think I would really get bored if I would have to return to the Eastern Cape."

　　Songezo Mcapukisi is also new to Johannesburg. Like many others there, she says she came to the city -- not for the culture, the mix of people or the restaurants -- but for the money.

　　"We're faced with the reality that our skills, they are only needed in the megacities, in the metropolitan cities. So, you know, I studied accounting, and there are no jobs for accountants back home."

　　Lawyer Chris Baird agrees.

　　"All of my friends are here. It's a great place in terms of being a young professional. It's where the great work is. It's the economic hub of the country. And really, I'll give you that it's not nearly as pretty as Cape Town, but it's where you need to be if you want to climb up the ranks."

　　Hannah Edinger is a director with the research group Frontier Advisory. She says one of the things that make African megacities special is that there are just not enough of them.

　　"I think what is interesting about African cities, unlike European cities for example, is there is only a few cities, and these cities are expanding quite rapidly."

　　Simphiwe Kahla, Songezo Mcapukisi and Chris Baird are among millions of people who have moved to fast growing African cities in recent years. The cities include Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Cairo, Egypt; Lagos, Nigeria; Nairobi, Kenya and, of course, Johannesburg, South Africa. Together, more than 30 million people now live in these African cities. And the numbers are growing.

　　I'm Faith Lapidus.

　　And I'm June Simms. Have a question or comment about the program? We would love to hear from you. Email us at learningenglish@voanews.com. Or visit our website, 51voa.com, and click on "Contact Us."

　　Thanks for listening!

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