Cities in focus – Cape Town

As populations grow, cities across Africa are increasingly implementing tech and data-driven solutions to tackle urban development and sustainability challenges.

For a while now, smart cities have been seen as a solution to addressing urban challenges and bridging digital divides across Africa.

Throughout the past decade, we have seen a certain ease of implementing newer technologies across Africa as cities often do not face challenges and costs associated with maintaining legacy technologies. Impactful tech solutions are currently being developed and scaled quickly and efficiently.

Cities in focus – Nairobi

By 2050, the number of people living in cities will increase by 2.5 billion. Almost 90% of those people will live in either Africa or Asia.

Today, Cairo, Lagos and Kinshasa already have populations well over 10 million, making them mega-cities. Other cities like Johannesburg and Nairobi are following suit.

Most of Africa’s urbanisation, however, will happen in medium-sized cities.

The rapid rate of urbanisation presents a unique moment for African cities. If managed well, these cities could be cradles of innovation and opportunities; however, if not, they may face long term development challenges.