Tallest buildings in Africa: Not since the early seventies has Africa seen a scramble for the skies as is evident today.
The Carlton Center in South Africa has for four decades held the pole position as the highest building in Africa despite not being featured even amongst the top 100 skyscrapers in the world.
This is soon to change as Africa is experiencing an upsurge in high-rise buildings with recent projects currently underway set to take away the title of tallest building in Africa.
The top 10 tallest buildings in Africa
- Iconic Tower in Egypt (height 393.8 meters)
- Great Mosque of Algiers Tower in Algeria (height 264 meters)
- Mohammed VI Tower in Morocco (height 250 meters)
- The Leonardo in South Africa (height 234 meters)
- Carlton Centre in South Africa (height 223 meters)
- Hassan II Mosque minaret in Morocco (height 210 meters)
- Commercial Bank of Ethiopia Headquarters in Ethiopia (height 209.3 meters)
- Britam Tower in Kenya (height 200.1 meters)
- New Administrative Capital D01 in Egypt (height 196 meters)
- New Administrative Capital C01 in Egypt (height 190 meters)
1. Iconic Tower, the tallest building in Africa
Iconic Tower is currently the tallest building in Egypt and the entire African continent. The 385.8-meter skyscraper is located in the Central Business District (CBD) at the famous New Administrative Capital (NAC).
Noteworthy, NAC is a large-scale project of a new capital city under development on 700 square kilometres of land located approximately 45 kilometres east of Cairo, the capital city of Egypt.
The Iconic Tower has a total of 80 floors the first 40 of which are offices. 10 of the entire floors are branded apartments while the rest, 30, are part of a five-star hotel.
2. Great Mosque of Algiers
Otherwise known as the Djamaa El-Djazaïr, the Great Mosque of Algiers is a large mosque located in Algiers, Algeria. The mosque is the third largest of its kind in the world and features the world’s tallest minaret.
The mosque is 265 meters tall inclusive of its minaret. It features a prayer hall or rather salat, with an area of 20,000 square meters. The central nave of the salat is surrounded by colonnades, with the mihrab that is made of white marble located to the east. The prayer hall is topped by a dome with a diameter of 50 meters, reaching a height of 70 meters.
Overall, the Great Mosque of Algiers is the second tallest building in Africa.
3. Mohammed VI Tower
With a total area of 102,800 m², Mohammed VI Tower is the third-highest building in Africa. The 250-meter high-rise mixed-use building comes third in our list of the tallest buildings in Africa.
Located next to the Bouregreg River in Rabat, the Moroccan Capital, the tower consists of a tower set on a podium to resemble a rocket on its launch pad, and it is designed to be visible from a distance of approximately 50 kilometres away. Inside, the 55 storeys contain a luxury hotel, offices, high-end apartments, and even a viewing terrace on the top floor, all accessible via a total of 40 lifts, 23 of which are in the tower and 17 in the podium.
4. The Leonardo
The Leonardo is the fourth tallest building in Africa. The 55-floor mixed-use property development stands at a height of 234 meters. It occupies a 3200-meter squad piece of land located on 75 Maude Street, approximately 100 meters from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in Sandton, South Africa.
The 5th highest building in Africa includes two levels of public areas off the street linked by an escalator to an interactive lobby space. The lobby is home to a reception area for the 230 apartments which rise up to the 41st level, penthouse suites with their own gardens and a 7500-meter squad of sectional title offices. The penthouses which are eight in total as well as the offices occupy the rest of the floors.
Moreover, The Leonardo features a landscaped garden, restaurants, a bar, a crèche, a gym and a spa linked by shuttle lifts directly into the parking garage.
5. Carlton Centre, the 5th highest building in Africa
This is a 50-storey skyscraper and shopping centre located on Commissioner Street in Johannesburg. At 223 metres Carlton Centre is the fifth tallest building in Africa and the second tallest in South Africa after The Leonardo, also in Johannesburg.
The four-blocks-long skyscraper has had the privilege of being the tallest building in Africa for a total of four decades since its opening back in 1973.
6. Hassan II Mosque minaret
The Hassan II Mosque is located in Casablanca, Morocco. The mosque is currently the largest mosque in Africa after the Great Mosque of Algiers. Hassan II Mosque features the second-tallest minaret in Africa with a height of 210 metres. This makes it the 6th tallest building in Africa with a total of storeys.
The construction of the mosque, which can comfortably accommodate 105,000 worshippers or their thereabouts, was completed in 1993.
7. Commercial Bank of Ethiopia Headquarters
This is a 198-meter building sitting on an 18,000-meter plot at Ras Desta Damtew Road in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia Headquarters is currently the tallest building in East Africa.
The building features 52 floors, two 5-floor podiums, and 20-metre deep underground parking lots. It has 46 above-ground floors, a mezzanine level, a ground floor, and 4 basement levels. With a floor area of 150,000 square meters, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia Headquarters comprises eight conference halls, an emergency waiting room for disasters, two restaurants on the top two floors, and a sightseeing tower.
8. Britam tower
This is a commercial tower with a maximum height of 195 metres, above ground, and 32 usable floors. It is the tallest building in Kenya and the 8th highest building in Africa with a pinnacle height of 200.1 meters.
Britam tower features a unique prismatic shape that starts as an equal four-sided square footprint and ends with a two-sided roof with a 60-metre mast, containing three helical wind turbines.
It has a total of 350,000 square feet of office space to use for commercial purposes. The building has an attached 12-storey Car park that can accommodate up to 1,000 vehicles which cater to its many tenants.
9. New Administrative Capital D01
This is one of the over 30 skyscrapers that are being built at the New Administrative Capital (NAC), home to the current tallest building in Africa, the Iconic Tower.Â
The New Administrative Capital D01 is a 196-meter-tall residential building with a total of 49 floors. Thus far, it is the tallest residential building in Africa. Moreover, it is the 9th tallest in Africa and the second tallest in Egypt.
10. New Administrative Capital C01
Another one from the New Administrative Capital in Egypt, New Administrative Capital C01 is a 190-meter office and administrative building. The building which was one of the first buildings to break ground in the futuristic city has a total of 39 floors. The building broke ground back in 2018, a year before the tallest building in Africa.
