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The role of education in Africa's smart cities and initiatives

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Veröffentlicht: 26. November 2025

Inspiring large-scale initiatives

The development of Africa and, to a certain extent, its major cities requires substantial investment in a number of areas. The notion of the "intelligent city" is currently very much in vogue. While the main objective is technological and infrastructural development, the educational aspect also needs to be highlighted.

What role does education play in these current initiatives in Africa?

The challenge of education in Africa

Africa's transformative enterprises are breathing new life into a continent in the throes of a demographic boom. To achieve this, it is important to continue investing in education. For Africa's decision-makers, it's a question of building a school adapted to the real needs of this century. By this, we mean moving away from a school of pure and simple knowledge transfer towards a more strategic preparation to face the major challenges of the 21ᵉ century such as

  • artificial intelligence and
  • the progressive robotization of practices,
  • climate change,
  • cultural identity in the face of galloping globalization among others.

In this vein, we're talking about training creative, authentic learners who are capable of innovation.

Only in this way can we hope to transform an Africa that seems more than ever in need of a second wind, to reach its full potential and create a favorable climate for future generations. Futuristic initiatives and cities are part of this dynamic of change.

Education in smart city projects and initiatives

Across Africa, there is an upsurge in projects aimed at transforming the continent. Digital innovation, energy efficiency and community participation are the most targeted aspects. Some African countries stand out from the crowd with projects that are as creative as they are visionary. In presenting them, our focus is on their educational contribution.

  • The Konza technopolis in Kenya: Nicknamed the Silicon Savannah, it's a smart city initiative launched in 2019. The major objective is the technological transformation of Kenya "into a newly industrialized middle-income country offering a high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030." It also aims to solve urbanization problems and relieve Nairobi, the capital plagued by congestion and traffic jams.

    In terms of education, the focus is on higher education. The project aims to inaugurate a modern campus of 1,500 students offering every guarantee of optimal training for citizens armed to face the challenges of the 21ᵉ century. In the long term, to bring to market innovators capable of transforming the country's economic landscape to achieve development standards never seen before.

  • Diamniadio, Senegal: Located 30 kilometers from Dakar, this urban project was launched in 2014 at the instigation of then President Macky Sall. The objective was clear: "to create a new integrated city... bringing together administrative districts, mixed residential areas, universities and research centers, a city of knowledge..."

    With this in mind, Amadou Mahtar-Mbow University was launched in 2019. Today, it is a benchmark for higher education in Senegal. There is also the Institut Supérieur d'Enseignement Professionnel (ISEP) in Diamniadio, due to open in 2021 with a capacity of 5,000 learners. It focuses on technical training in the automotive and ICT (information and communication technology) sectors. One of the post-training objectives is to provide companies with directly operational technicians.

  • Smart educationin Rwanda: Rwanda is one of the countries that have really started the race for infrastructure development in Africa. Alongside the desire to create smart cities, which is currently all the rage, projects for the digital transformation of education are at the heart of national concerns, hence the completion of the first phase of smart education on October 06, 2025, piloted by Huawei. Among other things, it enabled "1,500 schools to be connected to high-speed internet, and two state-of-the-art data centers to be deployed...".

    This historic moment also saw the launch of DigiTruck. According to Jennifer Onyeagoro, "it's a solar-powered mobile classroom designed to bring digital learning closer to communities". With this project, the digital divide (a problem throughout Africa) is gradually being bridged, as millions of students across Rwanda, even those in remote areas, will have equal access to high-quality educational resources.

Challenges along the way

Creating, having and even implementing futuristic ideas is a good thing. However, getting the whole population to benefit from them is a real challenge. In fact, to have an even stronger Africa, it's vital to work to ensure equitable education through an equitable distribution of educational infrastructure. In fact, however salutary the initiative to transform educational practices may be, allowing only part of a country's population to benefit will not solve the underlying problems; on the contrary, it could become another instrument for reinforcing inequalities.

In this vein, one of the main conclusions of the follow-up report to the Continental Strategy on Education for Africa and the Sustainable Development Goal published by UNESCO, UNICEF and the African Union reveals that: "Although 75 Million more African children are enrolled in school today compared to 2015, the number of out-of-school children increased by 13.2 million to over 100 million during the same period." In other words, we still have a long way to go to make education accessible to all.

Another challenge, and not the least important, is the long-term nature of these projects. One of the problems still encountered in Africa lies in the efficient follow-up of the projects undertaken. Even when we embark on an educational overhaul, it is just as urgent to invest the same energy in monitoring and anticipating future challenges in order to have an effective long-term impact. That's all the good we wish for smart cities and initiatives aimed at transforming education in Africa.

Sources

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Autor(en)/Author(s): Hermann Labou

Dieser Artikel ist neu veröffentlicht von / This article is republished from: Thot Cursus, 19.11.2025

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