slides used during my intervention at the Future Urban Legacy Lab (FULL) event "innovation & startups in African cities" http://urbanlegacylab.net/events/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.

18. Wikipedia says (con’t)

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..

20. Let’s talk
complexity:
urbanization =
perfect storm

21. Africa+cities+innovation = complexity3

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

34. Involving
citizens

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?

48. THANK YOU!
THANKS !
Questions?
Connect:
@marclepage
marc.lepage@undp.org