IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Das erste von insgesamt vier auf dem Meeresboden verlegten Unterseekabeln, das schnelle Internet-Verbindungen in Ostafrika ermöglichen soll, ist am Donnerstag in der kenianischen Hafenstadt Mombasa angeschlossen worden. Zeitgleich wurde auch im tansanischen Daressalam das Kabel der Firma Seacom angeschlossen.

Ein 10.000 Kilometer langes Unterwasserkabel soll rechtzeitig zur Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft 2010 den Südafrikanern eine schnellere und günstigere Internet-Nutzung ermöglichen.

Overview:

In one notable case from 2018, the report claims that Huawei-assisted hacking enabled the state to access the WhatsApp and Skype accounts of opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, which led to mass arrests both before and after the 2021 general elections.

Africa’s so-called “smart city” initiatives, presented to the public as tools for combating crime, are allegedly serving a far more sinister purpose, widespread digital surveillance of citizens, journalists and political opponents.

IMD’s Smart Cities Index 2025 offers valuable insights into how cities around the world, including those in Africa, are becoming smarter, more connected and more sustainable. According to the report, African cities achieved mixed results, highlighting notable improvements but persistent urban challenges.

• African cities are making progress in becoming smarter and more sustainable
• Cairo is the highest-ranked African city at 117th, highlighting challenges in infrastructure and affordable housing
• Nairobi dropped to 136th, facing growing challenges in basic services, healthcare access, safety, and employment
• Affordable housing, transport infrastructure, and urban density management are critical issues in the rankings

Link Developments has announced the launch of City Walk Abuja, a privately funded mixed-use smart city development designed to establish a new global gateway for investment, enterprise, culture and innovation in Africa. Strategically located on the principal corridor linking Abuja’s Central Business District with Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, the development sits within a government-designated Free Trade Zone.

aDrop SmartCity Ride app, Africa’s first transportation “Super” app for rides, delivery, interstate travels and rentals has entered Nigeria’s logistics space.

aDrop SmartCity Ride app, functions as a marketplace where people seek transportation for themselves or goods to certain destinations can be matched with drivers travelling to those destinations.

Mr Zeb Uzoukwu, chairman of Adrop Lagos, stated that aDrop SmartCity Ride app is designed specifically with the driver and rider in mind, to empower our partner drivers technologically and financially.

Nigeria and Turkey are now best buddies on satellite communications

A deal that would allow the Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd (Nigcomsat) to deploy telecoms services via satellite has been signed by the company and its Turkish counterpart, the Turkish Satellite Company (Turksat).

The agreement was signed in Ankara, Turkey, by Kazeem Kolawole Raji, executive director of NigComSat and Hasan Huseyin Ertok, vice-president of the Turkish company.

At a glance

• Who: City Walk Abuja; Link Developments; Benoy; Broadgate Developments Group.
• What: Plans have been unveiled for City Walk Abuja, a new mixed-use smart city development in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.
• Why: To establish a new global gateway for investment, enterprise, culture, and innovation in Africa.
• Where: City Walk Abuja will link the central business district with Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

City Walk Abuja will combine landscaped public spaces, biodiversity corridors and sustainable water systems with smart infrastructure and walkable neighbourhoods.

Plans have been unveiled for a new mixed-use smart city development in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, linking the central business district with Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

“Internet Exchange Points (IXP) are critical to improving internet access and lowering connectivity costs in the continent," the report states.

Nigeria has the third most developed Internet ecosystem in Africa, a new report has shown.

The report by Internet society, a global nonprofit organisation promoting the development and use of the Internet, said Nigeria ranks just below South Africa and Kenya.

Biometric voting, and the registration required, are once again proving problematic in several African countries. Somalia will miss its target of a November election as it has been unable to put into place election infrastructure or register its people. In Ghana, the plan to populate a new biometric register is continuing to spark controversy with legal challenges and observers deployed to registration centers. Meanwhile Lagos is attempting video conferencing to verify identity and perform liveness checks on its pensioners, and Gambia releases a progress report on its ID issuance.

Nokia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) to drive digital transformation and the knowledge economy for socio-economic development across the continent.

The two parties will leverage the power of telecommunications, including 5G networks, to connect the unconnected and identify innovative use cases, as well as business models.

The goals seek to interconnect African capitals and major cities with broadband infrastructure, to connect African villages to broadband services, to adopt regulatory measures so as to promote affordable and widespread access to broadband services, to support the development of ICT skills, and to adopt national e-strategies.

At the recent Open Government Partnership summit in London, Sierra Leone applied for membership and participating governments made fresh announcements, such as Tanzania's President Kikwete committing to enact a freedom of information law.

Open-source-service business executives in South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania last week shared experiences of how technology businesses have grown at a Free and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) meeting in Ghana. Many of those involved in the business expect the open-source services market to get bigger within the year.

The programme has been flagged off at UCH, Ibadan, Africa’s designated super specialist hospital due to availabililty of experts in virtually almost all aspects of medical care. As a result of the commencement of the programme in UCH, African countries requiring information on medicine or expert management would be able to link with the hospital if they have a problem they cannot solve on their own.

Like most ambitious projects, this one too began as an idea, seemingly unachievable. In 2004, when the former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, spoke at the inaugural session of the Pan-African Parliament in Johannesburg, the idea sounded fantastic. He proposed that all 53 nations of the African Union be connected through satellite and a fibre optic network with India to provide effective tele-education and telemedicine, not to mention Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), e-governance and e-commerce service.

The project, which would connect all the 53 nations of the African Union (AU) by a satellite and fiber-optic network, is to provide tele-education, tele-medicine, internet, Nideo-conferencing and VOIP services, and also support e-governance, e-commerce and effective communication among the nations.

The launching was made under the supervision of the Libyan Specialised Medical Field Council and the Post Offices, Telecommunication and Information Technology Holding in the presence of Jean-Pierre Onvehun Ezin, the African Union Commissioner in charge of Human Resources, Science and Technology.