Smart cities enable three critical pillars for the country and community:
- intelligence
- safety and
- sustainability.
The level of emphasis on each of the pillars varies in every country, based on the country’s requirements and priorities. According to Mahmoud El-Banna, Nokia’s Head of Digital Industries Sales for China, India, and MEA, Africa has a significant possibility to evolve toward the smart city concept.
“Most African governments are prioritizing digital transformation, and smart cities are one of the key focus areas in their plans.” In Africa, there are a few national and commercial initiatives towards smart cities at various scales and levels. Egypt’s new administrative capital city, along with the country’s numerous other smart city efforts, serves as a model for the construction of the smart city concept. Aside from Egypt, there are several smart city programs in South Africa, Nigeria, and Rwanda, to mention a few,” he says.
Egypt Smart Cities Revolution
Egypt is constructing a new administrative capital as a megacity that will house more than 7 million people in the near future. “In the future, the city will host a significant governmental district from which all governmental agencies will operate.” The city is built to the most recent current smart city standards, with cutting-edge use cases that provide residents with a one-of-a-kind living experience. “The city is developed in the far eastern portion of Cairo, with several transit channels to the Cairo city center and districts, including a new monorail line that connects the city to the Cairo city center,” El-Banna explains.
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Aside from the incredible developments in the new capital, Egypt is constructing a number of other smart cities throughout the country. New Alamin is a large extension on Egypt’s northwestern coast, on the Mediterranean. In the future, the city will be home to a couple of million people, with the full governmental, educational, hospital, and transportation infrastructure. There are other initiatives, such as Galala City, New Mansoura, and large renovations in other cities in Upper Egypt.
Egypt is also guaranteeing proper transportation throughout the country in order to offer residents of the new cities with proper access. “The Ministry of Transport is now constructing two monorail lines that will connect the Eastern half of Cairo, including the new capital of Cairo, to the West.” Egypt is constructing a high-speed rail line that will connect all of the country’s major cities, including the new ones. “The railway will go from Al Ain El Sokhna to New Alamin and Marsa Matoruh, passing through the new capital,” he explains.
“The private real estate sector in Egypt has also recognized the need of establishing smart cities and has begun developing new residential districts that meet the most recent smart city criteria.” There are already numerous examples and displays in the country, and some real-estate developers have announced the creation of a 5G-based metropolis,” El-Banna said.
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“Nokia has been in the vanguard of smart cities projects in Egypt, working to execute on the Egyptian government’s and municipal operators’ vision,” he concludes. “We have a significant presence in smart cities across many domains in key projects in Egypt, offering fiber broadband access, IP/Optical backbone, and comprehensive IT layer solutions including cloud, invoicing, charging, and orchestration to our smart city customers in Egypt.”