Harnessing the potential of 'Smart Cities' for Africa

The opening session of the Transform Africa Summit 2017 was like no other the continent has witnessed in the recent past. It was marked by a high-level conversation with the President of Rwanda, His Excellency Paul Kagame, on African Smart Cities and the partnerships that shall foster the transition to innovation-based societies. The conversation served as a platform for various leaders from the public sector, private sector, international organisations, academia and civil society to engage and discuss how to efficiently handle the unique and complex challenges facing African cities using data and technology. 

The conversation leaders included H.E. Nikolay Nikiforov, Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications, Russian Federation, Strive Masiyiwa, Executive Chairman, Econet, Rupert Pearce, Chief Executive Officer, Inmarsat and Jared Cohon, President Emeritus and University Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University. 

During this session, the Africa Smart Cities Blueprint was unveiled. Resulting from the leadership of the Republic of Rwanda on the Smart Cities flagship project, the blueprint was jointly developed by a wide range of stakeholders from the Smart Africa member states, private sector, non-governmental organisations, academia and civil society; the Blueprint highlights key building blocks for the African Smart Cities, outlines policy and regulation considerations; and the financing models that shall fast-track the transition to sustainable smart cities. 

The welcoming remarks were given by Dr Hamadoun Touré, Executive Director, Smart Africa Secretariat, whereas the opening remarks were given by H.E. Dr Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, African Union Commission and H.E. Houlin Zhao, Secretary General, International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

Presenting the Africa Smart Cities Blueprint, a special address was given by H.E. Jean Philbert Nsengimana, Minister of Youth and ICT, Rwanda, while the keynote address was given by H.E. Paul Kagame. 

Excerpts of the speech, President of Rwanda, H.E. Paul Kagame

“Dear brothers and sisters!

“I want to welcome you to Kigali. None of you are regular visitors, while some are here for the first time – we are delighted to have all of you with us. I hope you will get the most from this Summit and also a chance, if you will, to spend some time exploring our country and meeting our people. Let me thank the members of the Smart Africa Alliance, now comprising 18 member states for their commitment to Africa’s digital transformation agenda. The private sector and university partners are an essential part as well of this effort and I welcome and thank them for their support; their engagement is truly appreciated. 

“I would like once again to thank Dr Hamadoun Toure for his leadership of the Smart Africa Alliance; in particular, for building strong partnerships between the governments and the private sector. 

“I thank the Secretary General of International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Houlin Zhao, for the support given to this Africa Transformation Agenda; without his support, the meaning attached to this transformation effort will not be fully realised. 

“The Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, has been central to this initiative. I thank the Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, for her support. 

“This Summit focusses on Smart cities for good reasons – Africa currently has the world’s fastest growing cities, but even so Africa remains the least urbanised continent. Checking together these facts tell us two things. First, Africa is not as prosperous as it should be, because our cities are too small and disconnected. Second - this situation is changing rapidly and Africa looks to emerge as one of the planet’s centre for growth, innovation and opportunity in the generations ahead. However, we cannot take this trend for granted. This puts the urgency and relevance of the Smart Africa agenda into its proper context. 

“The word Smart is really about leveraging digital technology to narrow the gap between the high-quality services we need and those we can afford and to do so quickly. 

“We can work together to put technology in the hands of citizens of our continent, in order to build inclusive and sustainable places to live. Our future well-being depends on how well we respond to these challenges right now. 

“Let me remind all of us about a few key priorities. First, Africa has to be connected and why not at the highest possible speeds. At first glance, the figures appear low - only 20% of Africans have internet access and there are only three years left to meet the broadband commission target of 50%. However, this must be regarded as an opportunity for stronger public-private progression. In Rwanda, for example, our partnership with Korea telecom has already served to speed up our progress towards the broadband target. 

“Second, we must deliver on technology’s promise to bridge divides rather than deepen it. That begins with the digital gender divide. So long as women and girls are lagging behind, then we are not on the right track. Access to technology and information must also not distinguish between rich and poor or between urban and rural areas. If technology is entrenching divides rather than equalising opportunities, then we are not harnessing it well. And there will be, surely, negative consequences to follow from that.

“We have to make sure and make use of the combined talent, know-how, resources and the decision-making power gathered here to open up new pathways of productivity and inclusive growth for our continent’s expanding cities. 

“Technology is a powerful framework for bringing diverse stakeholders together, to define challenges and find solutions as we see in this room. 

“Transforming Africa, after all, means transforming Africans by enabling a practical mindset of problem-solving and discovering. The focus on people is the starting point around which we can build everything else including the infrastructure and the systems required. This goal can only be achieved by all actors working together with the private sector taking the lead and governments fostering a conducive environment for innovation and investment. 

“The Smart cities framework should serve as a catalyst to fast forward our plans. Our role is to continue to push for speedy implementation. Africans have the willingness to work and the talent to succeed. We need to make sure they acquire the knowledge and attitudes to be competitive.” 

Smart Africa Overview

The Transform Africa Summit held in Kigali, Rwanda on 28th-31st October 2013 culminated in the adoption of the Smart Africa Manifesto document by the seven African Heads of States in which they committed to providing leadership in accelerating socio-economic development through Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

On 30th-31st January 2014, ‘The SMART Africa Manifesto’ was endorsed by all heads of State and Government of the African Union at the 22nd Ordinary Session Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa.

This development places the Manifesto at the heart of the ICT agenda in Africa the 7 original signatories at the Summit to all the 54 African countries.

Smart Africa Alliance

The Alliance is a framework for implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the SMART Africa Manifesto, designed to make it actionable. Currently, the Alliance is a partnership bringing together all African countries adhering to the Manifesto, the Private sector as well regional and international organizations such as the African Union (AU, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), African Telecommunications Union (ATU), New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the GSM Association (GSMA), ICANN

Besides its initial membership, other organizations and countries sharing the same vision, interests and goals are admitted to the Alliance.

SMART Africa has 5 pillars which reflect the 5 principles of the Smart Africa Manifesto: Policy, Access, e-Government, Private Sector/Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development. Each pillar is built on four, cross-cutting enablers which will support the implementation of SMART Africa: Innovation; Communications and Advocacy; Capacity Building and Resource Mobilization.

The 5 pillars and 4 enablers when effectively developed and combined will contribute to Economic Growth and Job Creation, which remains the ultimate goal of the Smart Africa Manifesto.

Source: smartafrica.org