The world’s second largest continent, Africa, is experiencing one of the fastest urbanization rates globally and Huawei wants to be a part of it, according to Adam Lane, senior director of public affairs at Huawei Technologies.
He told Xinhua News that Huawei is keen to boost environmental sustainability on the continent. African cities can adopt modern technology in the area of water and energy use, communications, security and safety improvement, explained Lane.
“Huawei is currently in talks with a number of African cities to promote the concept of smart cities,” he said during the Business Leaders Dialogue in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Chinese company is already deploying smart technology in some cities in Kenya, Nigeria and Botswana, according to Lane. Smart technology can be used to better monitor use of environmental resource which improves the sustainability of cities, he said.
The Chinese tech giant has also developed innovations to improve the safety of urban residents in Africa. “We have developed advanced communication and coordination centers that improve the response time for police and ambulances during times of emergencies,” said Lane.
Among the top smart city initiatives on the African continent are Konza Techno City in Kenya which is known as Africa’s Silicon Savannah, and the new coastal city (Eko Atlantic) on Victoria Island in Nigeria.
Ghana’s own Silicon Valley, the so-called Hope City in Greater Accra region, is expected to change Africa’s skyline forever. Rwanda’s Vision City and South Africa’s Waterfall City are also among the top five smart cities in Africa.