innovation and startups in african cities
- 1. Innovation & startups in African cities @marclepage UNDP Africa innovation advisor
- 2. Outline 1. About me 2. History & debunking clichés 3. African Cities // Cities in Africa 4. Stats 5. Areas of innovation in cities in Africa 6. In depth example: digital Matatus (Nairobi, Kenya) 7. Conclusion & an attempt at predicting the future Q&A
- 3. Alexandria, Egypt, circa 1575
- 4. When we think of cities in Africa..
- 5. African cities or cities in Africa? Luanda
- 6. Cape Town
- 7. Agadir
- 8. Nairobi
- 9. Cairo
- 10. Port-Louis
- 11. Abuja
- 12. Dar es Salam
- 13. Abidjan
- 14. Antananarivo
- 15. Windhoek
- 16. OK, let’s pause here
- 17. Wikipedia says… • The urbanization rate in Africa is slowing, but so is the population growth rate, much because of HIV/AIDS. The big cities of Africa will probably continue to grow, but the future is as always uncertain. In 1994 it was expected that Lagos would become the world's third biggest city with 24.4 million inhabitants by 2015, but in 2001 this was adjusted to the world's eleventh biggest city with 'only' 16 million inhabitants. This shows how uncertain the numbers are, and how unpredictable the African population development is. • It is evident that like in the rest of the world, the African urbanization process has mainly been influenced by economy. The colonial powers placed ports, railways and mines to economically strategic places. The cities have both in colonial and post-colonial times been economically prioritized. People came to these places for nationalistic pride, work, administration, education and social services.
- 19. Rank Largest Cities In Africa Estimated Metro Population 1 Lagos, Nigeria 21.0 million people 2 Cairo, Egypt 20.4 million people 3 Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo 13.3 million people 4 Luanda, Angola 6.5 million people 5 Nairobi, Kenya 6.5 million people 6 Mogadishu, Somalia 6.0 million people 7 Abidjan, Ivory Coast 4.7 million people 8 Alexandria, Egypt 4.7 million people 9 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 4.6 million people 10 Johannesburg, South Africa 4.4 million people 11 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 4.4 million people 12 Casablanca, Morocco 4.3 million people 13 Accra, Ghana 4.1 million people 14 Durban, South Africa 3.4 million people 15 Kano, Nigeria 2.8 million people Despite uncertainties, a few numbers, for perspective..
- 22. Let’s look at innovation in cities in Africa
- 23. eating
- 24. Moving
- 25. Drones
- 26. Smart cities
- 27. Are cities in Africa well positioned to start adopting Smart cities technologies? 1. Limited legacy drawbacks 2. Youthful consumer population 3. Urbanization 4. Entrepreneurial Culture 5. Connectivity 6. Overarching governmental leadership strategically positioning ICT as an enabler
- 28. Urban planning
- 29. Housing - 3D printing houses
- 30. How much of this data is from YOU?
- 31. Big data
- 32. Africa tech/innovation hubs incubators, accelerators, co-working spaces, fab labs, makerspaces, hackerspaces and other innovation spaces.
- 33. Importance of innovation hubs • Bring together like minded (often young) people • Catalyst for ideas • Turning ideas into business • Investment support & vehicle • Driver of social change • Link with tech giants (telcos, google, facebook..) Yaba is Nigeria’s silicon valley
- 35. In depth example: digital matatus, Kenya
- 43. To sum up: • Working with local university • Data collection using relevant & local technology • Workshop with community • Using state of the art, universal format (GTFS) • Making result available locally in relevant format (paper) • Engaging with local tech ecosystem to develop apps • Engage in planning
- 45. 5 Forecasts for the Future of African Cities 1. Tech Sectors Will Shift City Borders—or Erase Them Entirely 2. Cities Will Lean on Community-Based Solutions in the Fight Against Climate Change - & other issues 3. Wireless Technology and the ‘Internet of Things’ Will Spur Social Impact 4. Lessons From the Ebola Outbreak Will Increase Investments in Health Care Infrastructure 5. Innovation Hubs Will Drive Further Creativity and Collaboration
- 47. What will the future of cities in Africa look like?
Editor's Notes
- #4: http://www.helmink.com/Antique_Map_Braun_Hogenberg_Alexandria/
- #5: By Colin Crowley - Flickr: kibera_photoshow01, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28632865 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-39247381
- #6: https://www.quora.com/Why-do-African-cities-tend-to-be-so-ugly
- #17: It’s a mixed picture (!): for all the nice cities in Africa, you have many more where life is a struggle. The point is that there’s no such thing as “African city”: there are cities in Africa They have vast differences
- #18: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization_in_Africa#Summary
- #19: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_urban_agglomerations_in_Africa
- #20: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/15-biggest-cities-in-africa.html
- #21: Bansky
- #22: https://qz.com/1183770/softbank-wants-uber-to-quit-africa-india-asia-after-investment/ https://twitter.com/uber_kenya/status/558191395690012672?lang=en
- #23: http://includeplatform.net/knowledge-portal/africas-growing-tech-hubs-smart-cities/
- #24: Urban farming, inc. rooftops https://www.farmafrica.org/kenya/urban-farming
- #25: Transportation is obviously, like in any city, a challenge. Here again,major differences from one city to an other
- #26: http://www.fosterandpartners.com/news/archive/2015/09/proposals-for-droneport-project-launched-to-save-lives-and-build-economies/
- #27: https://businesstech.co.za/news/general/76811/gautengs-r84-billion-smart-city-is-coming/ https://techpoint.ng/2015/03/10/ericssons-commitment-for-smart-cities-in-africa/ https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2017/11/01/smart-city-initiatives-in-africa/
- #28: https://www2.deloitte.com/za/en/pages/public-sector/articles/smart-cities.html
- #29: https://www.whereismytransport.com/case-study/sdi-partners-with-whereismytransport/ https://openreblock.org/
- #30: http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/feb/26/3d-printed-cities-future-housing-architecture
- #31: https://t.co/Zrvgbux1td
- #32: http://www.slideshare.net/UNDP_RC_Dakar/pulse-lab-kampala-presentation-addis-ababa-260315
- #33: http://www.afrilabs.com/afrilabs-hits-100-hubs-mark-3/ https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/programme/ecosystem-accelerator/africa-a-look-at-the-442-active-tech-hubs-of-the-continent/
- #34: https://qz.com/1305289/africa-needs-more-tech-hubs-to-drive-innovation-and-enterpreneurship/ http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/626981468195850883/pdf/102957-WP-Box394845B-PUBLIC-WDR16-BP-How-Tech-Hubs-are-helping-to-Drive-Economic-Growth-in-Africa-Kelly-Firestone.pdf
- #35: https://theconversation.com/sudan-student-protests-show-how-much-city-planning-and-design-matter-58877
- #45: http://www.fractal.org.za/
- #46: Credit: Bosun Tijani
- #48: https://t.co/UGrL6pNiqR
- #49: https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/april-2016/africa%E2%80%99s-cities-future