Smart Cities: The Solution to Africa’s Upward Urbanisation Trend
Technical Leapfrogging could Position African Cities for Sustainable, Smart Growth
Africa’s urban population is booming. At 3.5% per year[1], the continent’s urban growth rate is the highest in the developing world over the last twenty years. Within the next twenty, research suggests that every second person in Africa will live in a town or a city, bringing the urban population to around 926 million people.[2].
Within the decade, it is also predicted that six of the world’s 41 megacities (cities with a population of over 10 million people), will be on African soil, including Cairo, Lagos and Kinshasa, soon to be joined by Johannesburg, Luanda and Dar es Salaam1 .
While urbanisation plays a fundamental role in economic and societal progress, it also presents a myriad of challenges for go...