Top 10 of the best marketplaces in Africa 2024

Business Insider Africa presents the 10 best marketplaces in Africa.
This list is courtesy of the UK-based platform Merchant Machine
South African markets dominate the list.

When in a foreign country, marketplaces allow for encounters with locals that let you gain insights into the ideals the locals share, give you a semblance of their history, and show you their cultures via locally made products such as clothing, paraphernalia, and of course foods.

This fact begs the question of which marketplaces on the continent could simply be referred to as the finest.

To determine the finest marketplaces for visitors in Africa, Merchant Machine, a UK-based payment guide, evaluated Tripadvisor reviews for listings classified "farmers market" or "street/flea market" and rated them by the percentage of five-star ratings.

Merchant Machine in the process noted that Africa which is home to some of man’s earliest bazaars also houses some of the world's top-rated markets. South African markets dominated the list.

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“Outside of South Africa, Cairo’s Street of the Tentmakers (Sharia Khayamiya) is the top-rated market in Africa. Some 86.2% of visitors give it five stars. It is also one of the most unique in our study, populated by artisans who make colorful fabrics for the ceremonial tents used at wakes, weddings, and other celebrations. These fabrics are affordable and high quality. You can buy them in various forms, including bed linens and tapestries,” Merchant Machine stated in its report.

12 of the top 20 marketplaces in Africa are found in South Africa.

Victoria Yards in Johannesburg came in as Africa's finest marketplace and the 8th globally, with 91.9% five-star reviews. Pretoria's Market @ the Sheds, and Cairo's Street for Tent Makers, came in at second and third respectively.

With that said, here are the top 10 of the best African marketplaces in 2024

Rank	Marketplace	Region	% of 5 star reviews
1.	Victoria Yards	Johannesburg, South Africa	91.9%
2.	Market @ The Sheds	Pretoria, South Africa	87.0%
3.	Street of Tent Makers	Cairo, Egypt	86.2%
4.	The Playground	Johannesburg, South Africa	62.5%
5.	Pretoria Farmers Market	Pretoria, South Africa	61.4%
6.	Hermanus Country Market	Hermanus, South Africa	59.5%
7.	The Old Biscuit Mill	Cape Town, South Africa	59.0%
8.	Rue Bab Doukkala Market	Marrakesh, Morocco	55.9%
9.	Hazel Food Market	Pretoria, South Africa	55.3%
10.	Mojo Market	Cape Town, South Africa	53.4%

Highest rated Africa [Merchant Machine] Merchant Machine

Methodology

Merchant Machine examined Tripadvisor review data to identify the top-rated travel market in each nation. Markets with identical rankings for the proportion of 5-star visitor ratings were divided based on the market with more reviews. Markets were limited to those having a minimum of 25 reviews. The data was compiled last year in December.