★ A journalist’s eye, honed over more than a decade in Africa! This is the latest work by Fabian Urquidi, a seasoned Swiss reporter and Africa correspondent now based in Ghana. Having previously served at the Swiss Foreign Ministry and later headed the Africa desk at the Neue Zürcher Zeitung for seven years, he is now a full-time Africa correspondent for Swiss public broadcaster SRF—combining a global perspective with the on-the-ground instincts of a frontline reporter.
★ The book is both a sweeping portrait of regional development and a vivid, deeply human field report—rich in detail and tension—allowing readers to hear the authentic voices of this land. The author ventures into factories, music clubs, and even smuggling routes, engaging in face-to-face conversations with entrepreneurs, business leaders, and gold miners. It is a firsthand account, painstakingly gathered step by step along Africa’s coastline.
★ This book focuses on a coastline that will define the new century—the roughly 1,000-kilometer stretch of West Africa between Abidjan and Lagos, which is emerging as the world’s largest urban agglomeration, an unprecedented megacity cluster. In the coming decades, everything that unfolds here will reshape the geopolitical and economic landscape of Africa, Europe, Asia, and the entire world.
★ At the 2026 Frankfurt Book Fair, during discussions with nonfiction editors from around the globe, this book generated tremendous enthusiasm—and it is destined to resonate with readers worldwide. A region undergoing breathtaking transformation at breakneck speed, yet largely unnoticed by most of us, despite its profound impact on the future of Europe, Asia, and beyond. Did you know? Lagos, Nigeria, already boasts a population of 20 million, growing by roughly 2,000 people every day—a figure that leaves many in awe. For anyone seeking to understand where the world is headed, this is an essential read, delivered in the author’s uniquely compelling journalistic style.

This coastline will shape our future.
By the end of this century, 40% of the world’s population will live in Africa. This transformation is unfolding particularly rapidly along the West African coast—from Abidjan to Lagos. This thousand-kilometer stretch is evolving into the largest urbanized region on Earth: a megacity cluster composed of numerous metropolises, unparalleled in scale anywhere else in the world.
What does this mean for Africa, for Europe, and for the entire world? What exactly does this “African future” look like? To find the answers, journalist and Africa expert Fabian Urech embarked on a journey along this coastline, visiting factories, music clubs, and even smuggling routes. He spoke with migrants, entrepreneurs, and gold miners, painting a compelling portrait of a region destined to reshape the 21st century.

Fabian Urrech
Fabian Urrech is a seasoned Swiss journalist and Africa correspondent currently based in Accra, Ghana. He previously served as the head of the Africa desk at the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and spent seven years conducting investigative reporting on Africa. Since 2024, he has been stationed at the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRF) and contributes articles on the African continent to several German-language publications.
He studied political science at university and now works as a journalist, with a long-standing focus on African affairs. Before entering journalism, he worked at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, where he was deeply involved in Switzerland’s humanitarian and development aid projects abroad, including a role in the Kakuma refugee camp project in Kenya. This practical experience in international cooperation at the Foreign Ministry laid the groundwork for his later career as a senior foreign correspondent specializing in the African continent. He also completed a fellowship program at the Mercator Institute for China Studies.
At present, he resides in Accra, the capital of Ghana, with his family.

Introduction
Africa, the Future Lies Here 7

Nigeria
Lagos: 2,000 New Residents Every Day 15
Lagos: A City That Has Found Its Rhythm 29
Lagos: The Things You Don’t See 38
Idiroko: Bribery and Rice Smuggling 47

Benin
Porto-Novo and Cotonou: A Country Like a Construction Site 57
Cotonou: For a Better Country Tomorrow 67
Glo-Djigbé: “Made in Benin” T-Shirts 77
Ouidah: The Burden of History 88

Togo
Lomé: Dynasties and Stagnation 101
Lomé: Silence Cannot Last Forever 113

Ghana
Fuveme: When the Waves Come 121
Tema: The Engine of Progress 130
Accra: On the Other Side of the Road 138
Kasoa: Not Perfect, But Already Better 150
Takoradi and Tarkwa: The Curse of Natural Resources 159
Cape Three Points: The Most Beautiful Beach in the World 171

Côte d’Ivoire
Grand-Bassam: Africa’s Most Important Highway 177
Abidjan: Heading Toward the “Ivory Tower” 186
Abidjan: Rita and the Bookshelf 194
Banco: A Green Monument 203
Bimbresso: Life Is Ahead 211

Conclusion
African Cities: A Mosaic 221

Notes
Acknowledgments