This archive report was first published on 24 October 2019.
Thursday, October 24, 2019, marked a significant development in the world of smart cities, with global ICT giant Huawei confirming a $1.5 billion (Sh10.5 trillion) global financing to fuel the development of smart city infrastructure in Africa.
According to Huawei, the financing will be directed towards supporting African governments and smart city builders construct systems for critical communications and Intelligent Video Surveillance.
As cities in emerging economies are expected to double from two billion to four billion people between 2000 and 2030, the policies and investments that get this rapid urbanization right hold the key to resilient and sustainable development.
Wikipedia describes a smart city as one 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.
Experts allude to the fact that the fundamental aspect of a smart city is not the number of sensors or devices it contains, but rather the use of technology that enables city planners and other government bodies to reduce the stress on a city's infrastructure and unlock a better standard of living for its citizens.
