Huawei plans to enhance concept of smart cities by deploying smart tech in Africa

Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei is looking for rapid expansion in overall Africa. A few days back, Huawei ventured into an agreement with Makerere University in Uganda to set up an Information Communication Technology academy at the institution. The company has also recently donated telecommunications equipment worth USD 98,000 to the University of Zimbabwe. The purpose of this donation is to provide the latest training in information and communication technology.

Now Huawei is setting its ground to promote smart cities in Africa in order to enhance environmental sustainability. The senior director of public affairs at Huawei Technologies (Kenya) Co., Ltd., Adam Lane told Xinhua in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi that the African cities can adopt modern technology in the area of water and energy use, communications, security and safety improvement.

"Huawei is currently in talks with a number of African cities to promote the concept of smart cities," Adam Lane opined during the Business Leaders Dialogue ahead of the First Session of the UN-Habitat Assembly.

Huawei is already deploying smart technology in some cities in Kenya, Nigeria and Botswana. According to Adam Lane, smart technology can be used to better monitor use of environmental resource which improves the sustainability of cities.

According to Huawei, through the use of smart meters for water and electricity, African cities can curb wastage as well as improve revenue collections by utilities. He observed that Africa is experiencing one of the fastest urbanization rates in the world, as reported by Xinhua.

"These challenges result in the mushrooming of informal settlements which reduces the quality of lives of urban residents," he added. Huawei has also developed innovations to improve the safety of urban residents.

"We have developed advanced communication and coordination centres that improve the response time for police and ambulances during times of emergencies," the Huawei official said.

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