Ghana’s HOPE City in Accra Set to Feature Tallest Building in Africa, Will Rival Recently Announced Kenyan Tech Community

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Accra, Ghana—One of the most ambitious development initiatives on the African continent recently held a groundbreaking ceremony in the presence of a number of state officials and business partners of the massive project. Spearheaded by rlg Communications, The Hope City development promises that a sprawling ICT-oriented community will take shape in Accra’s Donkonaa area featuring high-end office space, entertainment venues and a substantial residential component, all encased in a design that illustrates the country’s traditional heritage. The $10 billion development will have a three-year-long construction process, after which Hope City will open its doors to some 25,000 residents and 50,000 employees.

Likened by its advocates to Silicon Valley, Hope City will hopefully crystalize a community of tech professionals willing to live in this massive vertical city concept. HOPE, here an acronym that stands for Home, Office, People and Environment, is the central theme of the multi-billion dollar project, and also its mission statement. Set in one of the fastest growing cities of the African continent, the tech-oriented mixed-use park will capitalize on the interest of not only rlg Communications, but other major entities that have manifested their support for the project such as: Microsoft, GUMA Group and Nigerian officials.

Hope City’s specifics point out that the project will be able to accommodate around 25,000 residents and 50,000 employees in a gross developed area of around 13 million square feet. Designed by Italian architecture firm Open Building Research, a company that’s also heavily involved in the design process for Rio’s 2016 Olympic Park, Hope City’s six towers will be taking their design cues from the traditional rural architecture of Ghana’s northern regions. The tallest of the towers would have 75 levels and stand 885 feet high, making it the tallest construction on the continent. Two other towers will have heights of over 700 feet and 60 stories, while the remaining three constructions will reach 500 feet, and offer 42 levels. All of the six towers will be interlocked through an intricate system of bridges allowing residents and employees to easily communicate with the rest of the hive-like development.

Hope City will be located in Donkonaa, a suburb located just 30 minutes away from Accra’s central area. The project will be constructed over the next three years on an empty site of approximately 24 acres. It will only be rivaled by the Konza Techno City, Kenya’s very own tech-oriented mega-development, which will take shape in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. That rivaling project will be a mere 60 kilometers away from Hope City. Local officials and publications have however voiced their concerns that the project would not bring as many advantages to the city of Accra and the state of Ghana as much as other entities, and have called for measures to make sure that the $10 billion investment mainly benefit the country and the African continent.