Five African cities have been ranked among the ten least liveable cities in the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit report, with the cities including Lagos, Algiers, Tripoli, Harare, and Douala.

Lagos in Nigeria ranked the least with an index of 139 out of 140 cities, Algiers in Algeria ranked 136/140, Tripoli in Libya- 135/140, Harare in Zimbabwe- 133/140 and Douala in Cameroon- 132/140.

Using sub-indices such as stability scores, healthcare scores, culture and environment scores, education scores and infrastructure scores, the report indicated that conditions have not improved in the least liveable cities comparing with previous scores.

The scores range from 0-100 with a zero score indicating worst conditions of liveability and 100 showing the best conditions for liveability.

Considering the scores obtained in the individual sub-indices, Lagos, which falls at the bottom experienced scores below 50. Stability scores were low for all the cities with the exception of Douala which scored 60/100. The poor performance of these cities in terms of stability pertains the ongoing civil unrest and military conflicts in these regions.

Healthcare scores, on the other hand, have fallen sharply, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the report finds. “Compared with six months ago, the average city score for healthcare dropped by nearly five points,” the report underscores.

Unsurprisingly, the healthcare scores for all of the five cities, according to the liveability index was below 50, which therefore affirms the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on each of these cities, especially the stress that the pandemic has added on to their various healthcare sectors.

Culture and environment which broadly reflects public gatherings held within these cities experienced curbs, when the pandemic started, the report reveals. Again, no city recorded the average score of 50 to indicate better cultural and environmental conditions.

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The report further indicates that, compared with 2019 figures, there has been little changes in education and infrastructure. Over the last six months, education is still lagging behind its pre-pandemic scores, the report notes.

Furthermore, EIU indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to affect city liveability.

This is beside the fact that vaccination campaigns are still ongoing in cities, at varying levels of efficiency, across the world.

“Conditions in the poorest cities are likely to deteriorate further, should cities fail to get the vaccines they need to prevent the spread of new Covid-19 variants.

“Weak healthcare systems could come under greater strain, as they have in India. A slower inoculation drive would result in a stricter lockdown, thereby affecting the expected recovery in economic growth. This, in turn, could affect other categories, including stability.”

The pace of recovery of liveability in most regions will be determined by how effectively the health risks of the pandemic can be controlled. This can be seen through a combination of vaccination, testing, tracing and quarantine measures.

Meanwhile, the report also indicates that the ten most liveable cities are Auckland in New Zealand, Osaka in Japan, Adelaide in Australia, Wellington in Australia, Tokyo in Japan, Perth in Australia, Zurich in Switzerland, Geneva in Switzerland, Melbourne in Australia and Brisbane in Australia from the first ranked city to the tenth ranked city respectively.