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A list of the tallest buildings in Africa

African skyscrapers have been around since the construction of the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg in 1973, which has held the title of Africa’s tallest building until April 2019. South Africa has most of Africa’s tallest buildings, having experienced the prestige that comes with hosting the tallest towers in the continent. This article is a detailed list of the tallest building in Africa. Read information on the heights and locations of Africa’s tallest buildings alongside some extra information.

List of the tallest buildings in Africa

Leonardo

Leonardo is found in South Africa. The building is 227 metres tall and has 56 floors. The building is a mixed-use development in Sandton, South Africa, and is our first item in our list of the tallest buildings in Africa. It is located at 75 Maude Street, about 100m from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The building’s construction began on the 17th of November in 2015 and was fully topped out in April 2019. It is among Africa’s tallest buildings.

Carlton Centre

This skyscraper is located in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is 223 metres tall, earning a spot on our list of Africa’s tallest buildings. It has been among Africa’s tallest buildings since 1973. The skyscraper was designed by a US-based architectural firm known as Skidmore, Owings and Merril. It can be compared to the One Seneca Tower in Buffalo, New York as they resemble each other and were completed in the same year. It has over 50 habitable floors and has once held the title of the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere.

Britam Tower

The skyscraper is a 200-metre tall office complex in Upperhill, Nairobi. The Britam Tower was opened to the public officially in July 2018, making it the tallest building in Kenya. A title formerly held by the UAP Old Mutual Tower is discussed later in this list. Construction of the 31-storey tower started in early 2013 and was completed in 2017. The building features a very unique prismatic design. The building resembles a black pyramid that is missing the top corner from a wide view.  From other angles, it becomes a slender black prism. In 2018, it was the first building in Africa to receive the Emporis Skyscrapers Award in its 19-year history. It has also been named the 10th best skyscraper in the world.

CBE Headquarters

This building is also one of Africa’s tallest buildings. It is located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and is a 46-storey building is located near the Ethiopia Hotel off Ras Desta Damtew Street. It is a 150,000-sq metre skyscraper serving as the headquarters of the state-owned bank. The topping of the CBE Headquarters at 198 metres made it the tallest building in Ethiopia. In 2015, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia signed a deal with China State Construction of the building for $267 million.

Nairobi GTC Office Tower

The topping out of the Nairobi GTC Office Tower, which is the tallest of six towers of the sh.40 billion Global Trade Centre, made it a new addition to Kenya’s tallest buildings. The building is 184 metres tall, with a 43-storey office block that is expected to be the African headquarters for the Chinese firm, Avic, which is to set up its continental hub on a 7.5-acre piece of land in Westlands, Nairobi. The Tower’s construction began in July 2015.

Ponte City

Ponte City is a 172.8 metre-tall skyscraper in Johannesburg’s Berea suburb. It was built in 1975 and is a 54-storey tower designed by South African architect Manfred Hermer. The building is the tallest residential building in Africa. The building has a cylindrical design with an open centre to allow natural light into the apartments. It is documented as Africa’s first cylindrical skyscraper.

UAP Tower

It is located in Upperhill, Nairobi in Kenya. The building became Kenya’s tallest building when it opened in July 2016, after 5 years of construction. The 33-storey building was overtaken by the Britam Tower, discussed earlier in this list. The building offers 300,000 square feet of Grade A office space in Nairobi’s rapidly growing commercial district.

NECOM House

The building was formerly known as NITEL Tower and earlier, the NET Building. The building stands at 158 metres tall and is located in Lagos, Nigeria. It is officially the tallest building in Nigeria and West Africa at large. Construction was completed in 1979 and the building houses the headquarters of former state-run Telco, a Nigerian Telecommunications company.  It has a spire at the top that serves as a lighthouse beacon for Lagos Harbor. NECOM House was designed by a Ghanaian architectural firm known as Nickson Borys and Partners. It was built by UK-based Costain Group and it took over Cocoa House as Nigeria’s tallest building.

Tanzania Ports Authority

Tanzania Ports Authority Tower stands at 157 metres tall and is located in Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. It is Tanzania’s tallest building and another addition to our list of Africa’s tallest buildings. The building was completed in 2016 and is a 40-storey building serving as the headquarters of the Tanzania Ports Authority.

PSPF Towers

The building is 153 metres tall and is located in Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. The twin-tower building is also a 35 storey building designed to create a flexible module that can host countless office setups for various uses.

Hassan II Mosque

The Mosque is located in Casablanca, Morocco. It is among Africa’s tallest buildings standing at a height of 210 metres, about 689ft. Construction was completed in 1993 and is considered the seventh largest mosque in the world. The architect-designer of the mosque is Michel Pinseau and is built by Bouygues.

HONOURABLE ‘TALLEST BUILDING’ MENTIONS

Marble Tower

It was originally known as the Sanlam Centre and is one of Johannesburg’s most popular landmarks. It was built in 1973. The 32-storey building is made from concrete and marble and has South Africa’s largest electronic advertising board. The building tops the Pearl Dawn building in Durban by a very small margin.

Pearl Dawn

The building is located in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and is 152 metres tall. The 31-storey building is one of South Africa’s most recent skyscrapers having been completed in 2008. It was designed by Seedat & Seedat Architects, a Durban-based architectural firm. The building is part of the greater Umhlanga tourism development project.