Delivering a transformative tech community to Africa with the goal of delivering new skills and jobs that will impact positively and change lives is the premise on which, Africa50, the pan-African infrastructure investor and asset manager announced the signing of an Implementation Agreement (IA) with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and the Government of Rwanda (GoR) for exclusive rights to develop, operate, and commercialise the 61-hectare Kigali Innovation City (KIC).
The new smart city advances Africa50’s strategy to develop and fund first-of-its-kind infrastructure assets that deliver high impact while generating attractive returns. The smart city is expected to stimulate $150 million in ICT exports annually and attract over $300 million in foreign direct investment.
More details about the Kigali Green City pilot project expected to be set up on some 600 hectares in the Kinyinya suburb of Gasabo district have emerged.
The features of this futuristic city were showcased at the September 6-8 Africa Smart City Investment Summit, held in Kigali. During the summit, Kigali was announced as Africa's premier smart city with promising smart city solutions according to the 2023 African Smart City Index.
Read more: RW: Fresh Details Emerge As Kigali Green City Project Takes Shape
The ambitious move by the nation also comes with cybersecurity risks.
Rwanda plans to modernize its infrastructure with a series of smart-city deployments that experts warn will drive fresh cybersecurity requirements.
Officials unveiled the Smart City Hubs concept at the Smart Cities Africa conference this week. The project aims to create pan-African collaboration on smart-city initiatives as well as further develop smart cities around the continent, with plans to build 100 smart cities by 2100.
The African Smart Cities Investment Summit in Kigali which had over one thousand delegates, over eighty speakers, twenty-five sessions and over forty-nine sessions brought to the fore the importance and the necessity for African Smart Cities. The speakers from their own varied perspectives stated and alluded to the fact that cities cannot be built the way cities used to be conceptualised, developed and built. Cities need to be attuned with the realities of the 21st century. A smart city uses technology and data-driven solutions to improve the quality of life for its residents, enhance sustainability and maximise urban services. It was also stated that second and third cities have to be developed and built as smart cities.
Read more: RW: Notes on the African Smart Cities Investment Summit in Kigali
Kigali emerged as Africa's premier smart city among the 30 cities featured in the 2023 African Smart City Index, a pioneering initiative designed to gauge the integration of digital infrastructure, sustainability measures, and innovative urban solutions in Africa's rapidly evolving urban centers.
The index unveiled on Wednesday, September 6, during the Africa Smart City Investment Summit held, in Kigali, focuses on the key categories most relevant to developing a sustainable and inclusive future for growing African cities.