Today the world is facing a 68% increase in urban population. The growing frequency of natural and man-made emergencies has also added another dimension of complexities to managing exposed cities. To address concomitant urbanization challenges, it has become imperative for affected governments to consider building strategy driven, process oriented and technology enabled smart cities that are suitable, resilient and liveable.
While technologies are new and rapidly changing, smart city concept dates back to antiquity. Alkebu-lan (Africa) actually hosted majestic ancient smart cities, from Egyptian cities of Memphis and Thebes; the Carthage and Aksum in modern day Tunisia and Ethiopia respectively. Severely other notable wonder cities include Kerman and Meroe (Sudan), the Great Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) and the quintessential Timbuktu (Mali).
In the current epoch, Africa now has over 44% of its population in urban centres. Smart city concept has regained momentum as an approach to improving life in existing cosmopolitan centres or the impetus behind building totally new cities. It is also being used as a dashboard framework to guide sustainable city developments and fostering economic growth. If well-orchestrated within Africa and strategically partnered with BRICS+, the smart city movement has the potential to immensely transform the continent’s urban environments for the better.
To this end, the Smart City Task Team which is part of South Africa BRICS Business Council Manufacturing Working Group (SABBC MWG) in collaboration with Papasha Media are rolling out a Smart City initiative. This will be a platform consisting of a series of Smart City symposiums and Smart City conference debut from 2025 and beyond. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) will host our first symposium on Building Smart Cities for Sustainable Development Opportunities and Challenges for Africa and BRICS+.
What are the Benefits of this Smart City Initiative?
Indeed this Smart City platform could not have come at a better time than this. Fashioned after African waterholes, the events will entail convergence of experts, policymakers and industry leaders to discuss smart city latest trends, challenges, opportunities and solutions.
The platform will also foster collaborations across African and BRICS+ cities that will be tied to SMART objectives while ensuring concrete progress is effectively tracked and results comprehensively reported.
1. A Shared Vision: A concerted Effort: African leaders and stakeholders in urban planning and development now have a multi-faceted platform to execute strategic smart city design and solutions implementation at global levels. African governments lagging behind will be able to easily deliver continental vision-aligned blueprints that can be used to collaborate BRICS+ partners in expediating transformation and maturity of their urban milieus into smart spaces.
2. Funding and investment opportunities: This platform will feature discussions on the funding and investment opportunities available for smart city projects in Africa. Key stakeholders, African companies and SMMEs will come to learn about these opportunities and connect with serious investors and funding agencies. One of the KPIs for this Smart City platform will be measuring deals and projects for alignment to Smart objectives.
3. Capacity Building and Skills Development: Governments and municipalities have absolute leverage to expand their skills and capacity in areas such as smart city planning, design, and implementation. Large companies, SMMEs and general citizens can improve their competitiveness and participate more effectively in the smart city landscape.
4. Access to cutting-edge knowledge and expertise: Renowned experts and thought leaders in the field of smart cities will share their insights and experiences on the latest trends, technologies and best practices. Manufacturers will also showcase their top of the spectrum equipment, information age tools and technologies such as AI driven UAVs, humanoids, flying cars e.t.c.
5. Exposure to markets and opportunities: African companies and SMMEs will gain insights into the latest developments and trends in the Smart City market with Africa’s projected revenue reaching 1.5 billion this year and annual growth rate of 12.01% between 2025 and 2029. Exploration of new business prospects and expansion of operations will be expected outcomes.
6. Networking opportunities: The platform will connect African companies and SMMEs with other stakeholders, including government officials, policymakers, industry leaders and BRICS+ experts and companies. This will lead to new business opportunities, partnerships and collaborations.
To our valued stakeholders, two-hour symposiums at the JSE on Smart Cities for Sustainable Development and the Smart Cities Conference in September 2025 are must-attend events!
This initiative offers unique opportunities for African municipalities to synergistically rollout smart city projects in the context of a shared African and BRICS+ vision, access cutting-edge smart city knowledge and expertise as well as commensurate funding and investment.
The Smart City platform is a step in the journey of a thousand miles to explore this unlimited potential.
*Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of the resurgent smart city movement in Africa!