Realising smart cities in Africa (the African way)
Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, also the wealthiest man in Africa, was recently asked in a seminar what industry would he readily venture into if he were a business owner starting out in today’s tough policy environment. His answer: ICT and agriculture.
Looking at his response it is easy to see why. It is anticipated that by 2030, six of the world’s 41 megacities will be in Africa. Governments will be highly pressured to keep pace with the mass urbanisation challenges. So…what are the policies, regulation and technologies that will drive the realisation of resilient, smart cities in Africa?
Many African countries have the advantage of not having many of the legacy structures created by the linear policies of the previous industrial revolutions. Leapfrogging is possible but it needs to start with a change of mindsets and exponential thinking. A smart city is a designation given to a city that incorporates information and communication technologies (ICT) to enhance the quality and performance of urban services such as energy, transportation and utilities in order to reduce resource consumption, wastage and overall costs. The overarching aim of a smart city is to enhance the quality of living for its citizens through effective technology. Up until not Africa’s development has been measured on its ability to meet “smart city” status using a first-world definition. This is a major flaw.
Countries such as Rwanda and Kenya are already taking centre stage in disrupting this thinking through the emergence of its cities of Kigali and Nairobi, respectively. This has been carried out through decisive leadership and with some help of forward thinking. Over the past five years, the Rwandan city of Kigali has made significant progress in undertaking integrated smart infrastructure projects in fundamental areas such as smart city infrastructure, vocational training, and strategic foreign investment. Earlier this year Rwanda made headlines as the first country to pilot blood deliveries using drone technology (a world first). The same country is home to the world’s first business school that tailor makes African business programmes for African leaders — the African Leadership University whose sole purpose is to produce Africa’s future leaders. The African Leadership programme started out back in 2004 as a not-for-profit elite high school program in South Africa called the African Leadership Academy (ALA) it has since spun out into the for-profit degree programs with ALUs in Mauritius (its main campus) and Kigali, Rwanda, where it has also opened a business school.
A key pillar to the success of these projects has been major investments in ICT infrastructure and forward-looking skills to create a knowledge-based economy, and ultimately smart cities in Africa (using a least-cost base). The graph below reveals that Rwanda offers the cheapest at $0.56 per GB, followed by Sudan ($0.68) and the DRC ($0.88).
Similarly, Kenya ($2.73) has been leap-frogging its way to a smart city status. In 2016 the Konza Technopolis Development Authority in Kenya (or Konza Techno City for short) entered an agreement with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme to standardise the development of what many consider would lead to the creation of the first African smart city. Konza City is anticipated to become the African version of Silicon Valley with infrastructure investments also being made into research and development in partnership with the Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). KAIST will serves as a foundation for engineering research and education in Kenya. These integrated projects have also been highlighted as major opportunities to support country’s sustainability challenges in the areas of transportation, energy and overall urban development.
Smart Cities solving sustainability challenges
Though other countries such as South Africa ($7.19) have been slow to implement integrated smart infrastructure in its cities, they have been addressing climate and sustainability challenges of energy access. The caveat of opportunity in most African cities is the increased access to global information through mobile internet connectivity. African cities sit on a gold mine by having one of the youngest populations on the continent — these youth populations all have one thing in common. They are all massive consumers of mobile internet services. Collectively, these economic disparities (high mobile data costs) have created a massive opportunity for governments to explore digital solutions as a tool for addressing poverty and lack of access to education.
A critical success factor for the success of smart cities in Africa will be strong political will and most importantly its ability provide to mobile connectivity to its citizens. African Innovation doesn't require large capital to exist however it does need a digital platforms to thrive! Give the people data and you will see smart cities popping up in all the corners of Africa!
There is nothing stopping these countries from leap-frogging linear policies and claiming smart city status their African development. Cities that are unique ..Smart Cities that are uniquely African as I am sure Mr Dangote would agree!
About the Author
Songo Didiza is a founding director of the Green Building Design Group. She was recently voted Energy Innovator of the Year at the 12th South African Energy Efficiency Convention (SAEEC).
