Source: Lead2Business – Afrik21
The fifth edition of the ‘Smart Cities Summit’ will take place from June 7 to 9, 2022 in Johannesburg, South Africa, against the backdrop of the challenges of technology for the development of cities on the continent – an important issue to meet the challenges of sustainability.
It is a key event for architects and urban planners, development banks and financial institutions, academics, mobility, waste and water management stakeholders, as well as digital solutions developers and energy providers. All these actors will travel to the 5th African Smart Cities Summit in Johannesburg – the largest city in South Africa, with an estimated population of nearly 5 million people.
The event, which takes place from June 7 to 9, 2022, will focus on the contribution of technology to the development of smart cities in Africa. The Smart Cities Summit, which is held alongside the African Construction and Totally Concrete Expo, will bring together 4 500 professionals from the building sector to discuss new solutions and trends in the smart city market in a digital format.
With interactive ‘Smart Talks’ sessions and product demonstrations by experts, the 50 000 professionals expected to attend this business-to-business platform will bring together their futuristic solutions to boost the development of African megacities.
With a population that will double by 2050 according to United Nations (UN) estimates, Africa must rethink its cities to cope with the problems of urban planning and sustainable development raised by this population growth. ‘Smart Cities’ are regularly presented as the solution with easier mobility, optimal energy consumption, more breathable air and streamlined services, among others.
In this context, technology is seen as an essential lever to respond to the demographic boom and the galloping urbanisation of Africa. In this sense, Huawei, one of the world’s leading providers of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices, has contributed to the establishment of 160 Smart Cities in over 100 countries.