From the Editor-in-Chief BBC Focus on Africa Magazine

More than half the world's population live in towns and cities, and soon, more than half of Africans will be urban too.

Cover feature Dazzled by the City - layout

But while the bright lights act as a magnet for those in the countryside looking for work, the city streets are not all paved with gold.

In this issue of Focus on Africa magazine, we take a long, hard look at the continent's cities.

From Freetown to Addis Ababa, Luanda to Lagos we report on the challenges, the opportunities and the consequences of the rapid increase in urban populations.

We also examine the big trouble spot in the Horn of Africa – Somalia.

And we get a poolside view of the troubles in Zimbabwe …

Joseph Warungu, Editor-in-Chief

Look out for free online content appearing on the site soon.

Also in BBC Focus on Africa Magazine this quarter:

News updates from Zambia, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast

SPECIAL REPORTS - CITIES

Overview: Masses on the move
Freetown: Breeding ground for opposition
Addis Ababa: Building skyscrapers, demolishing homes
Luanda: A scene from Gaza
Lagos: Millions make merry

FEATURES

• Zimbabwe: Octogenarian with an iron fist
• Lake Victoria: Squeezing her curves
• Horn of Africa: Somalia's messy politics and bloody war
• Europe and Africa: UK's dour prime minister and France's controversial president
• Nigeria: Squeaky clean president

COLUMNISTS

Opinion and Forum Opinion: Understandable Rage by Kenneth Kaunda Forum: Is Mugabe unfairly demonised?

Mukoma wa Ngugi: No to nuclear weopons
Kenneth Kaunda: Britain betrayed Mugabe
Gamal Nkrumah: The rise of militant Islam
Fred Khumalo: Literary birds of South Africa

BUSINESS

South Africa: Business moguls with designs on the presidency
Uranium: Niger and Namibia cash in

ARTS

• POETRY Paying tribute to an Igbo poet
• LITERATURE A thirst for African fiction in the UK and US
• CINEMA Uganda's video jockeys

SPORT

Basketball: Angola's giant leap
Football: Mohammed Kallon in his own words
Athletics: Eritrea takes on the big boys

ABOUT US

**Free online content Sky FM presenter, T-Max Jlateh talks to Simone Shaw Much to talk about

• Kwaku Sakyi-Addo handing the microphone to James Afedo
• From Sky FM, the Liberian presenter who won't give his full name
• The Africa Radio Award winners
• From Soweto to Delhi - Milton Nkosi packs his trunk
• How a man marrying a goat became an BBC News online internet phenomenon

FROM YOU

Your letters:

Colour-blind voting, Africa's e-world and the out-of-touch president

Snaps:

School kids at play, celebrating marriage and a balancing act

My Fashion:
Lady in red
My football team:
Africa 1, Europe 0

BACK PAGE SATIRE

Spin Master: Rapping for power

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