Following closely on its award as the technology capital of Africa, Cape Town has now been named as the African city of opportunity in a recent research report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The report places Cape Town against some of the world’s leading cities that are home to a vibrant economy, a high quality of life and thriving market centers.

The study considered 10 key variables such as, intellectual capital and innovation, technological readiness, transportation and infrastructure, health, safety and security, sustainability and natural environment, demographics and livability, ease of doing business and cost and economic clout.

Cape Town held a strong score in transportation and infrastructure, sustainability and the natural environments, ease and cost of doing business.

It scored lower in economic clout, technological readiness, city gateway and demographics and livability, proving that these are areas of improvement.

PwC’s Senior Manager for Cities and Urbanisation Dominic Boyle added that, “Although Cape town ranks top in technology readiness in Africa, it lags behind other cities  on a global scale. For example, Amsterdam alone host 900 Tech events a year and leading cities are continuously looking for ways to improve connectivity –  although Cape Town is making progress in these areas, it falls short when  benchmarked against other cities globally.”

The report highlights a number of improvements that the city can make in order to rise to the global ranks.

Some of these improvements include ensuring education is a priority, embracing technological innovation, growing tourism further and encouraging collaboration between government, business and citizens.