Faster and fairer urban mobility
Reduce travel times and emissions while improving access for people who don't own cars.
See the related solutionSmart City Africa
People-centred urban systems for Africa's growing cities.
Smart City Africa connects mobility, energy, connectivity, waste and circularity, governance, buildings, and quality of life into integrated urban solutions.
Context in numbers
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600 M
people without electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa
IEA · 2024
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70 %
of African cities face severe climate risks
World Bank / WRI · 2023
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38 %
internet usage in Sub-Saharan Africa vs. 68 % global
ITU · 2024
Solutions
Seven integrated solutions
Three service systems, two enabling and steering layers, the built environment, and one outcome. The seven solutions form an integrated system, not a catalogue of products.
Service systems
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Mobility
Access, reliability and active transit — the people-first lens on urban movement.
Read more -
Energy
Grid, mini-grids, stand-alone systems and clean cooking as one resilience picture.
Read more -
Waste & Circular Economy
From collection gaps and uncontrolled disposal to circular flows that protect public health.
Read more
Enablers & steering
Built environment
Why now
Why now
Africa's urban population is set to double from roughly 700 million to 1.4 billion by 2050. More than two thirds of the urban infrastructure cities will need has not yet been built. The decisions taken in the next decade will shape how more than a billion people move, live, learn and earn.
Top-down master planning has repeatedly failed to keep up. The international smart-city frame has shifted decisively towards people-centred, evidence-based, rights-respecting urban development. The work in front of cities is integration — across services, governance and outcomes — not another technology catalogue.
Approach
How we work
People-centred
Outcomes are measured in access, reliability, dignity, and lived experience.
Evidence-based
Decisions follow data and clear hypotheses, not vendor narratives.
Outcome-measured
Every intervention is paired with a way to know whether it worked.
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Step 1
Analysis
Understand the city, its people, and its constraints before recommending anything.
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Step 2
Strategy
Translate evidence into a sequenced, financeable, governable plan.
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Step 3
Implementation
Stand up the partnerships, vehicles, and capacity needed to deliver.
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Step 4
Measurement
Track real-world outcomes and feed them back into the next decisions.
How we look at every solution
Four cross-cutting lenses
Resilience & Climate
Cities must absorb climate stress: heat, flooding, water scarcity, and ageing infrastructure.
Inclusion & Access
Services must reach those most often excluded — informal settlements, women, the very young and very old, persons with disabilities.
Governance & Rights
Trustworthy delivery requires participation, transparency, data protection, and clear accountability.
Economic Impact
Better urban systems mean productivity, jobs, fiscal capacity, and lower lifetime costs of failing infrastructure.
Start a conversation
Which themes fit best is highly city-specific. Tell us a little about the city, the partners involved, and what kind of decision you're trying to make. We'll come back with the right entry point.
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