Tech Innovations. A Key solution to Africa's growing population and rapid urbanisation.
Africa is rapidly urbanizing and its population is growing numerically.
The United Nations has predicted Africa will have the fastest global population growth, and it will be home to more than 2.5 billion people with 55 percent of the population living in urban centers with over half of its populace residing in urban areas by 2050.
This urban growth is not being accompanied by the requisite infrastructural investments or policies to cater to this growth and attendant challenges.
This is concerning given Africa's current infrastructural deficits which compromise liveability in these urban areas. Education, health, and transport are core areas of challenge in Africa and currently.
Urban centers are believed to be central to achieving sustainable development because of the significant economic potentials and opportunities they hold.
However, the huge pollution emanating from cities from sources among which transportation is a major one is also a factor impacting sustainable development.
While urbanization has benefits, the possibility of urbanization to foster growth is dependent on adequate institutional and infrastructural investment, and this is an area African countries have not performed well in.
Two angles to Africa's rapid population growth and urbanization are that its high growth rate can perpetuate existent inequalities and poverty and inhibit growth; and its position to use smart technology to foster economic development and promote sustainability.
As much as African cities might be seen as falling behind the curve, the wide adoption of digital technologies has the potential to change the paradigm.
According to Professor Alfred Omenya, CEO, Eco-Build Africa, “We’re seeing possibilities of African countries leapfrogging the western countries on a number of issues because of technological adcancement.”
Also his youthful population brings with it a lot of potentials in the successful uptake of smart technology as young people have proven to be more adept and accepting of new, modern smart technology.
African nations can set themselves apart with a strong drive to succeed, good vision, and management as they now have the opportunity to simply adopt what has proven successful elsewhere saving huge initial development costs in the process; as well as building new cities from the scratch with these technologies as seen in Kenya's Silicon Savannah and Lagos’ Eko Atlantic city.
This, therefore underscore endless opportunities for Africa as its urban centers are at the cusp of speedy development in various ways giving its cities the rare chance to initiate and pilot a new era of thinking which will yield quantifiable benefits to its citizens.
Given its ambitious and tech savvy youthful population, a new dawn may just be here for Africa.
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