When I learnt recently that Amsterdam has a night mayor, I pictured someone who sleeps during the day but works at night. The role likely involves regular office hours but carries a unique responsibility: Regulating the night-time economy and fostering a safe, vibrant environment for individuals, businesses and the city. It is an idea with clear potential for African cities. A night-time economy brings many of the same demands and challenges as the day. Open businesses draw people who need transport, security for shoppers and traders and noise control to protect day-time workers.
In Dar es Salaam’s Kariakoo district, the night economy fuels a lively mix of clubs, street food and transport services. Both Kariakoo and Ilala thrive after dark, yet the city government often fades after dark, leaving a gap that must be addressed.
The night economy, when properly regulated, can create significant employment, especially in entertainment and hospitality sectors that also drive secondary benefits. Night-time services—security, transport, even waste collection—are critical. These activities generate revenues and offer a strong base for taxable income, benefitting both local governments and national revenue systems.
Amsterdam’s nightlife draws millions of tourists each year and generates about 1.25 billion Euros annually. After London appointed a Night Czar in 2016, it launched the “24-hour London” plan, which has created an estimated 1.6 million jobs and 26 billion Pounds annually. Comparable success stories can be found in Berlin, Bogotá, New York and Sydney.
The major political question now is this: The daytime mayor must rest. I have little doubt that our country’s mayors often need double attention, juggling day and night. A night mayor would coordinate nightlife and security matters without overburdening existing offices.
This would also ease tensions between residents and night businesses where entertainment venues raise noise complaints or late-night commuters must raise alarms lest disturbances become intolerable.
Ideally, the night mayor should remain apolitical, serving as a stakeholder with a focus on residents, staff, entertainment managers and external figures best placed to foster cooperation. They should be independent of government interference. A transparent, non-political body would be most productive for this position to be occupied by political party affiliates.
Of the twenty fastest urbanising cities worldwide, African cities such as Kinshasa, Lagos, Khartoum, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Addis Ababa, Cairo, Johannesburg, Luanda, Accra, Casablanca, Dakar, Abidjan, Algiers, Alexandria, Kampala, Ouagadougou, Lusaka and Douala are among the fastest growing. Without effective governance, such rapid expansion risks turning these cities into centres of disorder and crisis rather than engines of development.
Night mayors offer a practical way to harness the potential of Africa’s emerging 24-hour cities.
