The Road to Smart Cities in Africa

We have an important role to play in the creation of smart cities that matter

The potential of Africa becomes clearer every day. When we combine the entrepreneurial spirit of doers on our continent with those who have the resources to enable, we can start to make a valuable impact.

MTN Business South Africa’s recent Smart Cities webinar brought industry experts together to unpack what a smart city looks like in Africa. A smart city connects the physical and digital worlds, with the potential to improve many aspects of daily life including the way we work, travel, communicate and administer services. The capability of a smart city stretches as far as your imagination. Before you think too far ahead, a smart city should first address the challenges faced by its population on a daily basis. In Africa, we have begun doing just that!

During his presentation at the webinar, MTN Business GM: ICT, Sudipto Moitra said that smart cities enable smart decisions and smart outcomes. Our cities in Africa are bustling with a mix of potential and current innovators, but overpopulation creates challenges that become obstacles to success. This is where the doers step in, creating cities in Africa that are smarter than they were yesterday, better equipped to handle a growing population, using technology to solve problems and helping people thrive where they live and work.

Cape Town is among Africa’s smartest cities; enjoying improved service delivery with e-government, public wi-fi and remote utility meter reading (resulting in fewer errors) among many other benefits. Meanwhile in Kigali, sensors around the city measure air quality, monitor the power grid’s safety and detect water leaks. In both cities, entrepreneurship and job creation have all the potential to boom because they have truly opened up to the digital world. We are working quickly to redefine a modern, connected life in Africa.

For the doers on our continent, we are on a journey from Telco to TechCo. Connectivity is the key to any smart city and the foundation of IoT solutions. We are determined to see African people and African businesses not just benefit from technology, but thrive. This is why we have embarked on this journey from a core mobile offering when MTN was born, to the ICT partner we are today.

The journey is far from over. While we acquaint businesses in Africa with IoT, security and other ICT infrastructure solutions today, we are developing even more for tomorrow. Sudipto’s presentation at the Smart Cities webinar divulged our plans for solutions in the future. Think robotics, augmented reality, big data and artificial intelligence. These are the solutions that make me excited for the future of Africa! Our potential for smart has always been there and we’re about to see it in action.