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 Master thesis – Kedge Business School
Master’s degree in International Business & Geostrategy

Written by
Léa JEHL LE MANCEAU

How are emerging countries impacted by climate change and

what strategy can they implement to adapt to it?

Case study: The development of a Smart City in Lagos, Nigeria

Supervisor : Dr. Yahia Zoubir

June 2019
School : Kedge Business School

Project title : How are emerging countries impacted by climate change and what
strategy can they implement to adapt to it? Case study: The development of a
Smart City in Lagos, Nigeria

Project period : September 2018 – June 2019

Supervisor : Dr. Yahia Zoubir

Author : Léa Jehl Le Manceau

Number of pages : 126

2
Table of contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 7

1.1 Background description and problem statement ................................................................................. 7

1.2 Research Question ............................................................................................................................. 7
1.3 Delimitation ......................................................................................................................................... 8
1.4 Structure .............................................................................................................................................. 9

Methodology................................................................................................................................................. 9
2.1 Purpose ................................................................................................................................................ 9
2.2 Research approach and design ......................................................................................................... 11
2.3 Data collection................................................................................................................................... 12
2.3.1 Primary data: qualitative interviews ............................................................................................ 13
2.3.2 Secondary data: published academic and press articles ............................................................. 15
2.3.3 Case selection ............................................................................................................................... 16
2.4 Data Analysis..................................................................................................................................... 17
2.4.1 Transcription ................................................................................................................................ 17
2.4.2 Coding ........................................................................................................................................... 17

Literature review ....................................................................................................................................... 19

3.1 Understanding the stakes of climate change .................................................................................... 19
3.1.1 A definition of climate change .......................................................................................................... 19
3.1.2 Climate change vulnerability ............................................................................................................. 20
3.1.3 Climate change adaptability .............................................................................................................. 22
3.2 The impacts of climate change, focus on the African continent ..................................................... 25
3.2.1 Impacts of climate change on the world environment ...................................................................... 25
3.2.2 Impacts on the African continent ...................................................................................................... 27
3.2.5 The need for an international cooperation ....................................................................................... 32
3.2.6 The increasing participation of African countries in climate change international negotiations .. 32
3.3 A need for Smart Cities development ........................................................................................................ 37
3.3.1 A rapid urban growth worldwide fostering the need for Smart Cities ............................................. 37
3.3.3 Understanding the Smart City: What is a Smart City? ..................................................................... 42
3.3.4 Understanding the Smart City: What initiatives can be implemented? ........................................... 45
3.3.5 Understanding the Smart City: Which Smart City initiative for which African challenge? ........... 47
3.3.6 Understanding the Smart City: How is a Smart City funded and financed? ................................... 49

Case study: The development of a smart city in Nigeria ........................................................................ 56

4.1 Nigeria’s economic, social and ecological outlook .......................................................................... 56
4.2 Nigeria’s urban development ............................................................................................................ 58
4.3 The development of the Nigerian Smart City in Lagos .................................................................... 60
4.3.1 Lagos: a promising environment for Smart City development ......................................................... 60
4.3.2 The Nigerian government focusing on the development of Smart City initiatives .......................... 61
4.3.3 Lagos Smart City’s area focuses and current projects ..................................................................... 62
4.3.4 Entities supporting the development of Lagos Smart City ............................................................... 65

Findings and recommendations from the qualitative interviews .......................................................... 69

5.1 Findings ..................................................................................................................................................... 69
5.2 Recommendations...................................................................................................................................... 75

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5.3 For further research .................................................................................................................................. 87

Sources ........................................................................................................................................................ 88

Appendix .................................................................................................................................................... 94
7.1 Peter Bjørn Larsen ............................................................................................................................ 94
7.2 Olumayowa Idakolo Adegoriola ..................................................................................................... 103
7.3 Bjarke Kovshøj ................................................................................................................................ 108
7.4 Neelabh Singh ................................................................................................................................. 116
7.5 Maxine Pittet ................................................................................................................................... 122

4
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to the lecturers of Kedge
Business School’s “International Business & Geostrategy” master’s degree. It has been a very
precious achievement for me to be able to attend courses around multi-sectorial subjects such
as sustainable development, financial globalization, geopolitics, cross-cultural negotiation, and
to study complex challenges related to international relations, with some specific focuses on
the Mediterranean region and on the Asian continent. Therefore, I would like to express my
thanks to Dr. Yahia Zoubir, Director of Research in Geopolitics at Kedge Business School and
head of the “International Business and Geostrategy” track, for having accepted my application
to this specific Master’s degree, and for having accepted being my master thesis supervisor.

I also express my thanks to the rest of the Track of Excellence Professorial committee,
and especially to Mr. Hanoteau, who provided our class with an impactful, insightful and
inspiring course on the topic of international relations of the environment and sustainable
development. This course has been a great inspiration for me and has confirmed my motivation
to conduct further research in the area of sustainable development.

My sincere gratitude also goes to my end-of-studies internship manager, Scott Allison.

Since the beginning of my internship at CLEAN, a world-leading cleantech cluster based in
Denmark, which mission is to accelerate the green and sustainable transition worldwide, Scott
has shared with me his knowledge about sustainable development and international project
management. The first month of my internship has provided me with new insights, that I could
use during the redaction of my master research.

I would also like to sincerely thank the experts that I have had the chance to interview
in the context of this master research, Peter Bjørn Larsen, Bjarke Kovshøj, Neelabh Singh,
Olumayowa Idakolo Adegoriola and Maxine Pittet for their time and for the interesting advice
that they have provided, enabling me to develop recommendations that I hope the readers will
be inspired by.

Finally, I express my sincere gratitude to my close friends, family and especially to

Thomas Wegeberg and Annalisa Woods for showing their support during the redaction of this
thesis.
5
Abstract
African countries are likely to constitute the countries which will be most severely
affected by climate change: by 2100, the average temperature on the African continent is
expected to rise by 3 to 4 degrees Celsius. This important temperature rise will most likely
affect the economic, environmental and epidemiological stability of the continent, and
these shifts could have major implications for human well-being.

The development of Smart City projects decreases cities’ vulnerability to climate

change through the development of flexible and innovative infrastructures. By developing
Smart City projects, the adaptability of cities is upgraded, the level of pollution is
decreased and the quality of life of citizens is improved. Smart Cities also contribute to
the generation of revenue, improving the overall economic performance of cities.

In that sense, the development of smart city initiatives as an approach to tackle

issues related to climate change negative impacts represents an interesting opportunity for
African emerging countries, which are currently under economic and social development.

Nevertheless, the development of Smart Cities isn’t considered as a priority by

African governments and the lack of understanding remains strong among African
government representatives and citizens when it comes to climate change negative impacts
and Smart City development. When Smart City projects are considered, business models
related to projects development remain insufficiently developed, and international and
cross-sectorial collaboration between stakeholders remain too little. These brakes
undermine the effective development of Smart City initiatives.

Therefore, the education regarding climate change and Smart City development
should be fostered among citizens, businesses and governmental bodies. Clear cost
business models should be developed, collaboration with entities specialized in climate
change adaptation and Smart Cities development should be promoted and cross-sectorial
collaboration on a local scale should be fostered. Thanks to such measures, Smart Cities
can be implemented in an efficient way and as a consequence, vulnerable cities would
have the opportunity to successfully adapt to climate change negative impacts.

6
 Introduction
1.1 Background description and problem statement

According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)1, the earth’s average
temperature has risen about 1°F in the past 100 years and is expected to rise another 3 to 10°F
within the next 100 years.

Among others, African countries are likely to constitute the countries which will be most
severely affected by climate change: by 2100, the average temperature on the African continent
is expected to rise by 3 to 4 degrees Celsius. This important temperature rise will most likely
affect the economic, environmental and epidemiological stability of the continent, and these
shifts could have major implications for human well-being.

The development of Smart City initiatives decreases cities’ vulnerability to climate change,
decreases the level of pollution thanks to better urban development initiatives, improves
services for citizens, save costs in relation to project development and can also generate revenue
for cities down the line. In that sense, the development of smart city initiatives as an approach
to tackle the issues related to the negative impacts of climate change represents an interesting
opportunity for African emerging countries, which are currently under economic and social
development.

We believe that this creates a research opportunity: our purpose is to understand how African
emerging countries are impacted by climate change and how they could investigate efficiently
the development of Smart City initiatives, in order to develop a sustainable economic, social
and ecologic development. Through this research project, we will thus provide advices that will
help African emerging countries to tackle the obstacles that are met during the development of
Smart City initiatives.

1.2 Research Question

Based on the introduction above, the purpose of the thesis is to investigate how climate change
impacts emerging countries on an environmental, economic and social point of view, and how

1 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Third Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2002)
7
emerging countries can face the negative impacts of climate change through the development
of Smart City initiatives. To illustrate this investigation, we study the case of Nigeria, which is
currently developing Africa’s first Smart City, in Lagos. Therefore, the research question
identified is:

“How are emerging countries impacted by the negative impacts of climate change, and what
strategy could they implement to adapt to it?

Case study: The development of a Smart City in Lagos, Nigeria”

1.3 Delimitation
The thesis concerns the development of Smart City initiatives in African emerging countries.
The literature suggests differences in the way developed and developing countries are impacted
by climate change negative outcomes, and as a consequence also suggests differences in the
way developed and developing countries adapt to these vulnerabilities.

Hence, we delimit the study from other Smart City initiatives that have been implemented or
that are currently under implementation in developed countries, and we primarily focus on the
development of Smart City initiatives in African emerging countries. This delimitation will
provide us with the most consistent findings.

8
 1.4 Structure
The structure of the thesis is outlined in the following chart:

Figure 1. Structure of the Thesis.

Source: Own contribution developed for the study.

Methodology
In the second chapter, we introduce the methodology of the thesis, which includes the choices
of the research approach and research design in order to answer the research question.

We further describe our process of data collection and sampling of cases. At the end of the
chapter we mention how the data collected were analyzed and lastly discuss the quality of our
research.

2.1 Purpose
Being enrolled as a Master’s student in the Track of Excellence “Geostrategy & International
Business” at Kedge Business School, my focus over the past two academic years has been
oriented toward the understanding of global geopolitical, social and environmental events that
will shape our future. The first course I was enrolled in was “International Relations of the
Environment and Sustainable Development” and was taught by Mr. Hanoteau.

9
This course provided me with a deep awareness and understanding of the broadening ecological
disequilibria, which endanger our natural environment, as well as our human societies. By
studying cases related to the topics of global warming, deforestation, exhaustion of fish
resources, pollutions and destruction of the biodiversity, I could understand the dramatic
economic, social and security consequences caused by climate change. By studying and
applying through several case studies the concepts and theories of international relations,
environmental economics and political sciences, I could understand the complexity that lies in
the issues related to climate change on a global scale.

This course has confirmed my motivation to write a Master thesis over the problematic of
climate change, and provided me with ideas, insights and tools that have been useful for the
redaction of this Master thesis. This thesis provided me with an excellent opportunity to further
study and analyze the global impacts of climate change, with a particular focus on emerging
countries.

Prior to attending this course, I had for the first time met key players managing international
projects in the area of sustainability while being an intern at Business France Copenhagen, in
Denmark. There, I have studied several reports over the thematic of climate change and I have
helped to organize, as well as attended, two large-scale events in relation to environmental
sustainability:

- The ITS World Congress, at Bella Center, Copenhagen, Denmark

- The French Mobility Night, at the Embassy of France in Denmark, Copenhagen,
Denmark

The goal of these two events was to connect different actors over the world which common
purpose is to develop solutions for a greener and smarter mobility. By meeting several actors
enrolled in that field, and by attending several conferences and workshops, I had the chance to
discover and better apprehend the concept of Smart Cities. I had already heard about this
concept previously, while reading newspapers or listening to TV podcasts, but as a matter of
fact, it was really through exchanges about this topic with actors directly involved in their
development that I understood how important it would be for countries over the world, and
especially for emerging countries, to integrate these Smart solutions into their economic
development and urbanization strategy.
10
Over the past months, I have also started an internship as Project Assistant at CLEAN, in
Denmark. At CLEAN, I am focusing on the development of Nordic Solutions for C40 and of
the City Solutions Platform, two platforms delivering solutions to global climate challenges,
combining the strength of Nordic and international collaboration.

On a personal point of view, this thesis provided me with an excellent opportunity to better
understand a topic which is of great interest to me in terms of future career. I am indeed willing
to contribute to the development of a more sustainable economic growth, by advising emerging
markets on the solutions that could be established by them in order to adapt to the negative
impacts of climate change, while maintaining a positive economic growth.

2.2 Research approach and design

Thus, having being able to understand the negative impacts caused by climate change through
the courses I have attended during my Master’s degree, which were enriched by a professional
experience where I had the chance to deepen my knowledge in this field, I found it very
inspiring and interesting to look at the bright side of this issue. Consequently, I decided, in the
framework of this research, to focus on the existing solutions that could be implemented in
order to adapt to climate change’s negative impacts: the development of Smart City initiatives
in emerging countries.

Firstly, I proposed a definition of climate change. I explained the underlying effects of climate
change on our environment and pointed out the vulnerability of emerging countries towards the
negative effects of global warming. I outlined the importance for emerging countries to take
part in international negotiation rounds on the topic of climate change, since emerging countries
constitute the countries which will most severely be affected by climate change. The aim of this
first part is to give to the reader a clear understanding of the stakes of climate change, especially
for emerging countries.

Secondly, I prioritized the study of Smart City initiatives, as a way to adapt to the negative
impacts of climate change and to the rapid urbanization faced by African emerging countries. I
proposed a definition of the concept of Smart City, I have given an overview of the different
projects that are being developed, and I gave an explanation about the way Smart City initiatives
are being financed. The aim of this second part is to give the reader a clear understanding of

11
what a Smart City is, as well as to place emphasis on the opportunity that lies in the
development of Smart City initiatives as a way to leverage the negative impacts of climate
change, on a global scale.

Thirdly, I conducted a case study around the development of Africa’s first Smart City, the Smart
City of Lagos, in Nigeria. I first proposed a description of Nigeria’s economic outlook and
urban development. Then, I described the ongoing process concerning the development of
Lagos Smart City, with the description of some initiatives currently being implemented. The
aim of this third part is to show that Smart City initiatives are being taken on the African
continent, which represents an interesting pilot model for the rest of the continent.

Finally, the research question is analyzed inductively with a qualitative research design, thanks
to which the knowledge generation process is kept as open as possible. Thus, qualitative
interviews are being conducted, with five experts of Smart City development, in order to
understand:
- The way Smart Cities are being developed
- The challenges that are faced, undermining their efficient development
- The solutions that can be implemented to tackle these challenges
The aim of this fourth part is to propose a guideline, which will help in the effective
development of Smart City initiatives.

To conclude, the overall aim of our research study is to understand how the development of
Smart Cities can help emerging countries to better adapt, and to be less vulnerable, to the
negative impacts engendered by climate change.

2.3 Data collection

The following part explains the way in which data have been collected in order to answer the
research question. The data collection consists of primary data and secondary data. According
to Eriksson & Kovalainen (2008)2, qualitative in-depth interviews are often the primary source
of empirical evidence and that was the choice made for this research.

2 Eriksson, P. & Kovalainen, A. (2008). Qualitative Methods in Business Research. s.l.:SAGE Publications.
12
2.3.1 Primary data: qualitative interviews

The primary data have been collected by conducting qualitative interviews with five high
profile professionals, who have significant experience within the development of Smart Cities.

According to Rowley (2012)3, conducting qualitative interviews provides the researcher with
an in-depth understanding of opinions, attitudes, experiences and processes. Carrying out
qualitative interviews was very enriching for this research, since it enabled the collection of
interesting insights and solutions, directly answering the research question. By interviewing
experts, I could access new knowledges, that haven’t been yet studied through the secondary
data.

Rowley (2012) and Eriksson & Kovalainen (2008) mention three degrees of structuring
interviews:
- Structured
- Semi-structured
- Unstructured

In this research, the semi-structured interview was chosen and undertaken. Thanks to this
approach, I had the possibility to identify key topics that should be discussed in order to answer
the research question and could thus structure the interviews beforehand. It was my
responsibility to make sure that the semi-structured interviews offer a coherence between the
theory, the research question and the collected data.

The semi-structure interviews that have been conducted have been prepared beforehand, and
have been constructed around approximately fifteen open questions, which provide detailed
answers. The questions have been developed following a circular process. Indeed, the questions
have been slightly adapted to the different actors that have been interviewed. The questions
have been centered around four main areas, which are the following:

3 Rowley, J. (2012). Conducting Research Interviews. Management Research Review (35), pp. 260- 271.

13
 - Questions regarding the career path of the interlocutors, in order to understand their
expertise
- Questions regarding the utility of developing Smart Cities nowadays in relation to
climate change, but also regarding the advantages and disadvantages of developing
Smart Cities
- Questions regarding the way the different stakeholders can be connected in order for
Smart City projects to be successfully developed
- Questions regarding the case study: the development of Lagos Smart City, in Nigeria

It has thus been prioritized to ask simple and multiple questions. According to Eriksson &
Kovalainen (2008) it is better to ask multiple simple questions than one complex question, and
Kvale (2007)4 adds that questions should be simple and brief. By asking multiple simple
questions, it was made possible to develop a clear understanding of the explored issues, but also
to come up with clear solutions that answer the research question.

Once a decision had been made regarding the kind of interviews that would be carried out, and
questions that would be asked, I worked on the selection of interlocutors, who could represent
interesting profiles to help me answer the research question.

I thought about interviewing interlocutors with different professional profiles, coming from
different countries. I thus contacted independent professionals (advisors in the field of
sustainability), but also professionals from the public (teachers, trade advisors from public
institutions) and private sectors (consultants). I have contacted several professionals through
LinkedIn, and I have also contacted the institution “Business France in Nigeria”, knowing that
I would be provided with interesting sectorial information –having previously worked for
Business France both in Czech Republic and Denmark. I have also been advised to contact new
professionals post concluding interviews with already listed interlocutors.

I have conducted three physical interviews, and two online interviews. While conducting
qualitative interviews, I made sure to promote neutrality in questions. In that sense, bias can be
prevented: the interviewee should not feel that a specific answer is expected (Rowley, 2012).

4 Kvale, S. (2007). Doing Interviews. London: SAGE Publications

14
Qualitative interview questionnaire

I- Career path
1) What is your current position? What is your focus area and what services do
you propose to the entities you are working with?
2) What projects are you currently working on, in regard to the development of
Lagos Smart City?

II- General questions on Smart Cities

1) Why is Smart City relevant now?
2) What is a Smart City, according to you?
3) What are the advantages of the development of a Smart City?
4) What are the disadvantages of the development of a Smart City?
5) What are the major difficulties that countries are facing while implementing
Smart City projects?

III- Connecting the stakeholders

1) What are the different stakeholders that are involved in the development of a
Smart City? According to you, which stakeholder’s participation should be
strengthened?
2) How can government, academics and companies be connected together
successfully, in order to develop efficient Smart City projects?

IV- The development of Lagos Smart City

1) Why is it important for emerging countries, and especially for Nigeria, to
develop Smart City projects?
2) What projects have been successfully implemented in the framework of
Lagos Smart City?
3) What future projects are expected to be implemented in the framework of
Lagos Smart City?
4) What are the financial aspects concerning the development of Lagos Smart
Cities? How are the projects financed?
5) According to you, what are the major brakes that are currently faced,
undermining the effective development of Lagos Smart City?
6) According to you, what are the main measures that could be taken in order to
bypass these brakes?
7) According to you, how could the model of Lagos’ Smart City be successfully
transferred to other African countries?

2.3.2 Secondary data: published academic and press articles

Secondary data have been used to better define the problem addressed by the research, to
develop an adequate research literature review, and to help interpret primary data. The
secondary data that have been used for this research consists of already published research
(academic articles), press articles and conference papers.

15
They include academic articles about climate change impacts, climate change vulnerability,
climate change adaptability, climate change social impacts and climate change international
negotiations. These articles have been collected through valid academic databases, to which
access was provided by Kedge Business School Online Library. The academic databases that
have been used for this research are EBSCO and CAIRN, which constitute credible databases.

Reports made by consulting groups such as Deloitte or PWC, or by International Institutions

such as the United Nations, the OECD or the World Bank have been used, especially for the
explanation of the way Smart Cities are financed.

Numerous press articles have been used in order to develop the case study. Indeed, the Lagos
Smart City being an on-going process, no academic articles have yet been written on the topic.
The press articles that have been studied originate from Nigeria’s local press and address topics
regarding government development goals, as well as projects being currently implemented in
the framework of Lagos Smart City. Conference papers have also been used regarding the
development of Lagos Smart City.

Additionally, the secondary data collected consists of relevant theory and articles from previous
courses of my Master’s degree. As underlined previously, I followed a course about
“International Relations of the Environment and Sustainable Development”, which provided
me with relevant articles.

Most of the sources that have been studied in the framework of this study are less than 5 years
old.

2.3.3 Case selection

For this research, a case study has been conducted in order to illustrate the theories that have
been studied in the literature review.

Since no research has been found around the development of Lagos Smart City, in Nigeria, I
found it interesting to study this particular case. Indeed, Lagos currently represents Africa’s

16
first Smart City, and the effective development of this Smart City could constitute an inspiring
model for other African countries.

Just as Nigeria, other African countries represent perfect targets for the development of Smart
City initiatives. Indeed, African countries are negatively impacted by climate change, are
currently in a process of industrialization and face an important urbanization. Growing in a
sustainable way, thanks to the development of Smart City initiatives, represents a promising
opportunity for these countries.

Understanding the on-going development of Lagos Smart City, understanding the brakes that
are faced in its development, and proposing solutions to overcome these brakes is the key goal
of this research, and could be achieved through the case study.

2.4 Data Analysis

2.4.1 Transcription

The transcription of the qualitative interviews is a translation from oral to written languages.
The transcription constitutes the first step of the data analysis.

For this research, a full transcription has been made, in order to include all words being said
during the qualitative interviews. Pauses and behaviors have not been observed as this is not of
importance in relation to the research question. We do not observe the interviewees and their
body languages as their actions are in no relevance to the research question.

The interviews have both been carried out and transcribed in English.

2.4.2 Coding

After carrying out five qualitative interviews, I could code and analyze the different insights
that had been collected. The coding phase is necessary to extract the relevant information in
relation to the research question and to discard the irrelevant. According to Gioia et al. (2012)5,

5Gioia, D. A., Corley, K. G. & Hamilton, A. L. (2012). Seeking Qualitative Rigor in Inductive
Research: Notes on the Gioia Methodology. Organizational Research Methods 16 (1), pp. 15-31.

17
it is also an efficient way to collect relevant insights which help in answering the research
question. By collecting and comparing data and insights given by the interviewees during the
qualitative interviews, I could indeed formulate recommendations, that will be useful for further
research.

In this research, the coding process has been an important step, since it enabled the summarizing
of the interesting learnings and findings, which contributed to the formulation of solutions and
further recommendations.

While the literature review followed an inductive approach, the coding approach that was
chosen in this research was abductive. The abductive approach allowed the researcher to
generate insights gradually as the different transcriptions were made.

2.4.3 Triangulation

This study has reached triangulation through validation of the findings by the support of
multiple empirical evidence and cross-checking across the different qualitative interviews. In
this research, it has been important to find evidence from several sources (academic and press
articles) before concluding any findings from the different interviews.

Furthermore, it was important that multiple evidence were found in the additional theory to
back up the most essential findings - both in regard to the findings in the interviews and in the
theory.

18
 Literature review

3.1 Understanding the stakes of climate change

3.1.1 A definition of climate change

As a start, it is important to outline what the notions of “climate change” and “global warming”
stand for.

According to the Nasa (2019)6, whereas “climate change” refers to seasonal changes over
time, “global warming” refers to a rise of the earth’s global temperature. Moreover, “weather”
refers to the meteorological conditions at one particular time and place, that vary from hour to
hour, day to day, season to season, whereas “climate” refers to a broader pattern, a long-term
average of weather in a place. Therefore, in order to determine changes in climate, long-term
data are used.

Climate change and global warming are closely related, and these terms are commonly used
interchangeably. Indeed, the increase of temperatures in the oceans and atmosphere are the root
cause of new global climate patterns, such as rainfall, droughts, storms, growing seasons,
humidity, sea level... Nevertheless, it is important to point out that climate change can refer to
changes at local, regional, continental and global levels, whereas global warming is a planet-
wide phenomenon.

According to the European Commission7, the earth’s increasing temperature is closely

linked to rising greenhouses gases. Greenhouse gases have the particularity of trapping heat
and light from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere, which process leads to an increasing
temperature of the earth. Susan Joy Hassol (2000)8, explains that the main culprit of greenhouse
gas emissions is carbon dioxide, which is released from cars, factories, oil and natural gas in
power plants; coal burning and methane, released from rice paddies, rotting garbage in landfills,

6
What’s in a name? Weather, global warming and climate change (2019), article from NASA, Global Climate
Change, Vital Signs of the Planet, URL: https://climate.nasa.gov/resources/global-warming/
7
European Commission website, Energy, Climate change, Environment, Climate action, Climate change : Causes
of Climate Change, URL : https://ec.europa.eu/clima/change/causes_en
8
Susan Joy Hassol (2000). Teachers’ guide to high quality Materials on Climate Change and Global Warming,
URL: http://www.hdgc.epp.cmu.edu/teachersguide/teachersguide.htm
19
mining operations, as well as gas pipelines. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and nitrous oxide,
coming from fertilizers and other chemicals are also great causes of greenhouses emissions.

Over the past 100 years, the earth’s average temperature has risen about 1°F and is
expected to rise another 3 to 10°F within the next 100 years, according to the UN
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)9.

These changes of temperature are unprecedented and closely linked to human activity. Indeed,
if it is well acknowledged that the Earth’s temperature naturally varies over time, the current
rate of the change is extreme and has never been experienced in the past 10 000 years.
Moreover, all areas around the world do not experience the same changes in their climate, even
though the trend of warming temperatures is a global phenomenon. Global warming has unique
impacts on local systems.

According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as temperatures keep

on rising, so do precipitation projections. Unprecedented precipitations are expected to happen
in a more frequent way, in the form of heavy downpours, as well as extreme wet and dry
conditions. These patterns will have a major impact on natural ecosystems as well as human
activities and will continue to impact them as temperatures keep on rising.

Thus, how are countries impacted by climate change? In the following part, we will study the
concepts of vulnerability and adaptability, which are important concepts to acknowledge in the
study of climate change.

3.1.2 Climate change vulnerability

Vulnerability is an important concept in the study of climate change. Whereas Eriksen

and O’Brien (2007)10 define vulnerability as the “likelihood of injury, death, loss, disruption of
livelihoods or other harm as the result of environmental shocks, such as floods, earthquakes or
other hazards, or harm resulting from social changes such as conflict or economic

9
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2002)
10
Eriksen, Siri & O'Brien, Karen. (2007). Vulnerability, poverty and the need for sustainable adaptation measures.
Climate Policy. 7. 337-352. 10.1080/14693062.2007.9685660.

20
restructuring”, the IPCC Third Assessment Report (2014)11 defines it as ‘‘the degree to which
a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change, including
climate variability and extremes”.

Over the world, nearly all human activities can be vulnerable and negatively affected by climate
change. Indeed, human social and economic activities (how humans live, and how they generate
wealth) are largely influenced by the ambient climate.

Nevertheless, according to Katrina Running (2015)12, the impacts of climate change are not
equally distributed across regions. Indeed, compared to industrialized countries, developing
countries are more likely to bear a large proportion of climate change’s harmful consequences,
even if they are responsible for a much smaller part of global greenhouse gas emissions.

This leads us to the following question: why are some regions more exposed and vulnerable to
weather fluctuations than others? Katrina Running (2015) proposed the following explanation:

Firstly, some countries have a higher geographic exposure to climate change. For
example, coastline countries such as the Netherlands or Bangladesh are highly exposed to the
negative effects of global warming because of their geographical localization.

Secondly, countries whose economic activities largely depend on the primary sector will
face climate change with more difficulties, because of the increase in uncertainty on their
capacity to produce. Katrina Running (2015) explained: “countries structurally disadvantaged
in the global economy, such as those with colonial pasts and economies based largely on
resources extraction or single crops, are much more vulnerable to both environmental and
economic shocks”.

Indeed, according to the work of Parks and Timmons Roberts (2008)13, the economic

11
Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner,
P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (2014). IPCC,
Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment
Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

12
Katrina Running (2015). Towards climate justice: How do the most vulnerable weigh environment–economy
trade-offs? Social Science Research (2015), 217-228
13
J. Timmons Roberts and Bradley C. Parks (2008). A Climate of Injustice: Global Inequality, North–South
Politics, and Climate Policy. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics. 8. 409-412.
10.1007/s10784-008-9071-9.

21
development status, defined as “structural vulnerability” is a great factor of vulnerability and
can limit the development of adaptive strategies.

A less economically developed country will face climate change impacts with more difficulties.
A simple explanation is that most of climate change coping strategies are highly dependent
upon technology. To take our previous example around coastal countries, it is clearly apparent
that coastal communities in the Netherlands are in a better position to cope effectively to rising
sea-levels than the coastal communities of Bangladesh, since they have better technologies and
infrastructures. Technologies and infrastructures indeed require important financial resources,
that are not equally present in developed and developing countries.

To further advance this idea, Parks and Timmons Roberts carried out an investigation on the
disparities in responsibility, vulnerability and mitigation in the aftermath of Honduras’s
Hurricane “Mitch”. Parks and Timmons Roberts found out that the weak social infrastructures,
the extreme inequality in land ownership, the severely exploited natural resource base on the
country’s long colonial history as a supplier of raw resources, together with the country’s low
position in the global economy made Honduras highly vulnerable to climate change.

Nevertheless, some developing countries thrive to cope with the consequences of climate
change by implementing successful adaptive measures. For example, in the context of high
population growth, some communities in Northern Nigeria have thrived to develop adaptive
measures to tackle the issue of an increasing aridity, leading to a continuous increase in per
capita agricultural production over the last three decades.

To conclude this part of the research, it is most likely that the populations which will be exposed
to the worst of climate change impacts are the ones that are least able to cope with the associated
risks. Vulnerability is highly influenced by institutional and economic dynamics. It is therefore
urgent for the most vulnerable areas to implement strategies and measure to tackle the negative
risks of global warming.

As a next step, the topic of climate change adaptability will be studied.

3.1.3 Climate change adaptability

According to the work of W. Neil Adger, Saleemul Huq, Katrina, Brown, Declan

22
Conway and Mike Hulme (2003)14, the adaptation process towards climate change refers to
“the adjustments of a system to moderate the impacts of climate change, to take advantages of
new opportunities or to cope with the consequences”.

According to their work, there are many alternatives that can be used to decrease vulnerability
to climate change and to adapt to it. For example, the following actions can foster the countries’
adaptation:

- Avoiding building infrastructures in locations that are highly proned to risk;

- Limiting the use of drought-dependent crops and developing new agricultural practices;
- Diversifying food production;
- Strenghtening already existing infrastructures so that they can resist the damaging
events caused by climate change.

Moreover, in 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report15 about mitigation
highlighted that the two degrees Celsius warming could be prevented thanks to investments in
the sectors of energy, of transportation and of agriculture.

Nevertheless, the development of adaptation measures implies costs, which is why the role of
collective action in order to facilitate the adaptation processes is of high importance. As there
is little evidence that adaptative strategies will be developed in an autonomous way, there is a
need for international institutions to build a global coalition, in order to set clear measures to
reduce the damaging gas emissions and to facilitate the resilience of the populations that cope
with its negative effects.

In order for adaptation processes to be implemented with efficiency thanks to collective

management, some elements are key, according to Katrina Running (2015)16 :

- The involvement of the private sector (institutions, governments): the private sector has

14
W. Neil Adger, Saleemul Huq, Katrina, Brown, Declan Conway and Mike Hulme (2003). Adaptation to climate
change in the developing world, Progress in Development Studies 3,3, 179–195

15
Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner,
P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (2014). IPCC,
Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment
Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

16
Katrina Running (2015). Towards climate justice: How do the most vulnerable weigh environment–economy
trade-offs? Social Science Research (2015), 217-228
23
 a major role to play in the adaptation processus toward climate change;
- The size of the group undertaking the collective action, the boundaries of the resource
at risk, the homogeneity of the decision-making group, the distribution of benefits of
management are important in determining the ultimate success of collective
management.

Moreover, according to Katrina Running (2015)17, the population of developing countries is

“less likely to support policies to prioritize environmental protection over economic growth,
but are more willing to donate personal income for pro-environmental efforts compared to
citizens of more developed countries”. It gives an explanation as to why many communities in
emerging countries develop adaptive measures thanks to their own social capital and resources.

Nevertheless, more resources are now needed and thus a broader collaboration needs to be
developed, as the negative impacts of climate change will increase the need for infrastructural
development in areas with little resources.

Part 3-1. Understanding the stakes of climate change

General conclusion

Together with geographic exposure, institutional and economic dynamics directly impact
countries’ vulnerability to climate change. Thus, in relation to their current economic
development, African developing countries constitute highly vulnerable areas. Furthermore,
due to insufficient financial means, African developing countries often lack of sustainable
adaptive infrastructures and therefore struggle to efficiently adapt to climate change
numerous challenges.

It is therefore urgent for the most vulnerable areas to implement new models, strategies and
measures, to fight against the negative impacts induced by rising earth temperatures, on a
social, ecologic and economic point of view.

In the following part of the research study, we will further study the impacts of climate change
on the world environment, and focus on the African continent.

17 Katrina Running (2014). Towards climate justice: How do the most vulnerable weigh environment–economy
trade-offs? Social Science Research (2015), 217-228
24
 3.2 The impacts of climate change, focus on the African
continent

3.2.1 Impacts of climate change on the world environment

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)18, the Earth’s global
temperature has increased by 0.74 degrees Celsius and sea levels have increased by 17 cm
during the 20th century. The report highlights that the rising Earth temperature, as well as the
rising sea level have crucial impacts on the six following fields:

- Freshwater resources and their management;

- Ecosystems and their properties;
- Food, fiber and forest products;
- Coastal systems and low-lying areas;
- Industry, settlement and society, human health;
- Goods and services.

Furthermore, according to the work of Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments
(GLISA)19 on the topic of climate change impacts on natural resources, the World forests and
vegetation is highly impacted by climate change. The increasing CO2 emission will impact
forest productivity, with growing risks of drought, forest fire, pests and invasive species.
Moreover, the distribution and composition of tree species will continue to shift and some tree
species (pines, for example) may disappear from some World regions.

The report of Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments (GLISA) also
underlines that an increasing share of animal species will need to migrate to the north due to a
shift in habitat zones caused by changes in temperatures. These changes will cause, for some

18
IPCC, 2007: Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fourth
Assess- ment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, Pachauri, R.K and
Reisinger, A. (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 104 pp.

19Climate Change Impacts on Natural Resources, Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments (GLISA)
Report.
25
animal species, an inability to adapt to a changing natural environment. For example, species
relying on wetlands will be highly concerned, due to increasing evaporation rates, which will
reduce the total wetland coverage. As another example, fish populations will be less diverse.
Additionally, the increasing warming of water temperatures will much likely lead to a decline
in cold-water fish populations and warm-water fish populations will become more abundant.
Furthermore, the warming of the water and of the Earth temperature will cause an increasing
number of drought events, which will lead to a poorer water quality. This decrease in water
quality has a direct impact on wildlife development and will also impact the inhabitant’s access
to water.

Finally, more frequent and intense precipitation events will be experienced Worldwide. The
flood-absorption by the lands will be undermined, which will increase the risk of flooding and
erosion. An increasing number of severe storms will occur as a consequence of climate change,
which will impact adjacent ecosystems, as well as agricultural activities and urban
environments.

The following two figures summarize the effects of climate change on natural environments:

Increasing carbon Increase in forest

dioxide concentration productivity

Increase risk of
drought, fire, pests, Decrease in forest
other stressors productivity
Increasing
Temperature Shifts in the
distribution and
composition of
vegetation

Figure 2. Climate Change Impacts on Natural Resources

Source: Climate Change Impacts on Natural Resources, Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and
Assessments (GLISA) Report.

26
 More abundant
warm-water fish
species
Warmer water
temperature
Less diverse fish
Reduced summer population
water levels, reduced
groundwater Increased frequency
Increasing recharge, reduced of hypoxic conditions
Temperature wetland coverage leading to fish kills

More frequent severe Poorer water quality,

precipitation, less wildlife habitat,
increased flooding, species forced to
erosion migrate north

Figure 3. Climate Change Impacts on Natural Resources

Source: Climate Change Impacts on Natural Resources, Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and
Assessments (GLISA) Report.

To conclude, climate change variations highly impact natural ecosystems and as a consequence,
the World population’s quality of life is negatively impacted. As underlined in the previous
parts of the research study, least developed countries are more vulnerable to these negative
impacts. The next part of our research study will thus focus on the impacts of climate change
in least developed countries.

3.2.2 Impacts on the African continent

According to the work of Serdeczny, Olivia & Adams, Sophie & Baarsch, Florent &
Coumou, Dim & Robinson, Alexander & Hare, Bill & Schaeffer, Michiel & Perrette, Mahé &
Reinhardt, Julia. (2016)20, African countries will be among those most strongly affected by
climate change: by 2100, the average temperature on the African continent is expected to rise
by 3 to 4 degrees Celsius.

20
Serdeczny, Olivia & Adams, Sophie & Baarsch, Florent & Coumou, Dim & Robinson, Alexander & Hare, Bill
& Schaeffer, Michiel & Perrette, Mahé & Reinhardt, Julia. (2016). Climate change impacts in Sub-Saharan Africa:
from physical changes to their social repercussions. Regional Environmental Change. 1-16. 10.1007/s10113-015-
0910-2.
27
This important temperature rise will affect the economic, environmental and epidemiological
stability of the continent and these shifts will have major implications for human well-being.
Indeed, according to the work of Alagidede, Paul & Adu, George & Frimpong, Prince Boakye
(2014)21 African countries represent vulnerable areas towards climate change, especially in the
fields of food security, environmental and climate change risks.

Already in 2010, the World Bank22 underlined that climate change will challenge the
sustainable development of African countries and could cost the continent as much as 4 % of
its gross domestic product each year.

Climate variations

In that context, it is interesting to understand what will be the biggest challenges that the
continent will face in the coming years. According to the work of Houghton, J.T., Y. Ding, D.J.
Griggs, M. Noguer, P.J. van der Linden, X. Dai, K. Maskell, and C.A. Johnson. (2001)23, the
projected weather and climate events that are likely to happen in African countries due to
climate variations are the following:

21
Alagidede, Paul & Adu, George & Frimpong, Prince Boakye (2014). The effect of climate change on
economic growth: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa, WIDER Working Paper Series 017, World Institute for
Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
22
The World Bank, Climate change, URL : https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/climatechange/overview
23 Houghton, J.T., Y. Ding, D.J. Griggs, M. Noguer, P.J. van der Linden, X. Dai, K. Maskell, and C.A. Johnson.

(2001), IPCC: Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third
Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 881pp.
28
 Table 1. Estimates of confidence in observed and projected change in extreme weather
and climate events.

Source: Houghton, J.T., Y. Ding, D.J. Griggs, M. Noguer, P.J. van der Linden, X. Dai, K.
Maskell, and C.A. Johnson. (2001), IPCC: Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis.
Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New
York, NY, USA, 881pp.

As underlined in this table, an increase in intense precipitation events is likely to occur and
according to a study carried by the Department of Ecology of the State of Washington, the
variation of temperatures or rains timing have a direct impact on water supply, plants blooming,
fruits growth, insects hatching, crops pollination, fish spawning, forest health, and other natural
activities. As such, food security will be highly impacted by climate change. Food shortages
will mainly occur in African slums.
29
The changing patterns of natural ecosystems due to climate variations will lead to a shrinking
availability and a new repartition and distribution of natural resources.

Furthermore, as stated in the work of Alagidede, Paul & Adu, George & Frimpong, Prince
Boakye (2014) climate change will lead to an increasing soil erosion, as well as increasing
flooding in African cities. These threats have higher chance to occur in the big cities of the
West African coast, meanwhile arid and semi-arid areas of North and Southern Africa will be
exposed to water shortages.

Moreover, as underlined in the previous part of the research, the areas that are most likely to be
vulnerable to the changes patterns of natural ecosystems are coastal areas, where storm surges
and rising sea levels will be experimented, as well as developing countries.

The example of Lake Victoria, experiencing rapid water-level fluctuations

Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake by area (59,947 km2), which primary outflow is
the White Nile and with root countries Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and
Rwanda, has experimented long-term changes and rapid water-level fluctuations due
to the combined effects of rainfall variability, as well as a large hydrological system
with complex and delayed response to climate events. The major fluctuations have
enhanced temporary inundation of lakeside and wetland areas, as well as important
river flooding, which themselves challenge the well-management of agriculture,
fishing, infrastructure development projects (such as hydropower installations) and
of course water supply for regional communities and industries.

Alagidede, Paul & Adu, George & Frimpong, Prince Boakye (2014)

To conclude, climate fluctuations enhanced by global warming have a major impact on

economic activities and populations’ well-being in African countries. As underlined in this part,
climate change threats will mainly occur in large cities, which increases the need for adaptive
strategies to be implemented, as soon as possible. As such, it is urgent for African cities to
develop adaptive infrastructures.

30
Social impacts of climate change : Conflicts and migration

According to the work of Michael Brzoska & Christiane Fröhlich (2015)24, climate
change triggers violent conflicts among populations because of an unequal repartition of
resources. However, if conflicts do not automatically become violent, they are more likely to
become so in areas where the social and political contexts are complex and where the capability
of institutions to manage or solve conflicts is weak, which is the case in most African emerging
countries.

Moreover, studies have predicted that a large number of people will be displaced by climate
change. This phenomenon, called “climate migration”, is considered as one of the main security
risks of global warming.

Already in 1990, reports such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)25 rang
the bell: “the gravest effects of climate change may be those on human migration as millions
are displaced by shoreline erosion, coastal flooding and severe drought” (IPCC, 1990, p.20).

These predictions have been premised on the fact that climate change would engender and
accelerate land degradation and resource scarcity, with this phenomenon leading to trigger
migration of populations, enhancing instability, violence and conflicts on an international scale.

According to the work of Michael Brzoska & Christiane Fröhlich (2015), climate migration is
more likely to occur when the environmental challenges induced by climate change, such as
rainfall variability, weather extremes, sea level rise, desertification, floods and land degradation
aren’t properly tackled by an effective governance, by a successful infrastructural development,
and by a successful integrated planning for adaptation.

To conclude, the lack of effective solutions developed to tackle these issues is prone to have
negative effects on livelihoods, health, standards of living and security of the populations. This
pattern can, as a consequence, enhance migration movements toward areas that are less affected
by climate change, or better equipped to face its impacts. In African countries, these migration

24 M Fröhlich, Christiane & Brzoska, Michael. (2015). Climate Change, Migration and Violent Conflict:
Vulnerabilities, Pathways and Adaptation Strategies. Migration & Development. 5.
10.1080/21632324.2015.1022973.

25J.T.Houghton, G.J.Jenkins and J.J.Ephraums (1990), Climate Change, the IPCC Scientific Assessment, Report
Prepared for IPCC by Working Group

31
movements are more likely to occur from rural to urban areas. There is therefore an urgent need
for African cities to develop sustainable and adaptive urban infrastructures.

3.2.5 The need for an international cooperation

According to a course given by Mr. Hanoteau (2018)26, the global issue that constitutes
climate change has been largely debated over the past decades and is increasingly likely to
become an important matter for global negotiations and policy debates in the coming years.
Nevertheless, negotiators from developed and developing countries share a very different view
on the issue of climate change, and especially on the question of climate change responsibility.

On one hand, negotiators of less-industrialized countries show concerns about the required
restrictions on economic activities for the development of adaptation measures, arguing that the
residents of developing countries still struggle to achieve and maintain basic material security.
Most of them argue that developed countries with high-emissions should be financially
responsible for the protection of poorer and high-climate vulnerable countries. They are
inclined towards a corrective and distributive justice. African states define themselves as
victims of climate change and consider that they should be treated differently than developed
countries and thus should not be exposed to mandatory mitigation requirements.

On the other hand, negotiators from developed countries argue that the damage to the
environment caused by their economic activities in the past should not be punished.

3.2.6 The increasing participation of African countries in climate change

international negotiations

The creation of a regional alliance to gain ground in international negotiations

The following part was written according to the work of Roger, Charles & Belliethathan,
Satishkumar (2014)27.

According to Roger, Charles & Belliethathan, Satishkumar (2014), during the first

26 Mr. Hanoteau (2018), Course : International Relations of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Kedge
Business School Marseille
27 Roger, Charles & Belliethathan, Satishkumar (2014), Africa in the global climate change negotiations.

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics 16. 10.1007/s10784-014-9244-7.

32
climate change negotiations, the African states lacked a unified position, which undermined
their negotiation power. Nowadays, African countries’ involvement in international rounds of
negotiation regarding climate change issues have improved and their calls for action are
increasingly taken into consideration by the international audience.

During the first climate change negotiation rounds, African states were seeking to establish
principles focusing on the following areas:

- Economic development;
- Quality of life improvement;
- Reduction in poverty over environmental considerations;
- Food security;
- Energy security;
- Sovereignty over the use of their natural resources.

In 2009, during the Copenhagen COP negotiations regarding climate change, African countries
presented forty-one resolutions, focusing on the previously described areas, but also on some
highly debated climate change requirements. African countries presented the need for:

- A financial compensation to support the continent’s losses due to climate change;

- An increased and improved share of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects;
- Technology transfer and capacity building programs.

In order to increase their bargaining power and to meet their goals, the African states have
joined several international coalitions, such as the Group of 77 (G77), a coalition of 134
developing nations that was created in order to promote their collective economic interests and
to create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations. The G77 has played a
major role in the climate change negotiations to date, and by joining this coalition, the African
countries negotiating power was magnified.

The African countries have also participated actively in alliances and organizations such as the
Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), representing 44 states (28% of the developing
countries and 20% of the United Nations total membership), the Coalition of Rainforest
Nations, the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group, the Like-Minded Developing Countries
and the BASIC group, all contributing to the empowerment of emerging countries during
international negotiations. Finally, the African states have created a regional coalition, the

33
African Group of Negotiators (AGN), that boosted their collective influence. So far, the AGN
represents the only regional developing country coalition that has consistently operated in the
climate negotiations since their inception in the early 1990s.

The AGN is constituted of five subgroups representing each region of Africa, which chairs
change on a rotational basis of two-year terms. The chairs have led AGN meetings, maintained
the overall discipline and constitute the voice African countries during international negotiation
rounds. Thanks to this process and with the guidance from AMCEN, African negotiators can
coordinate their approach and their position, in relation to the issues that will further be debated
during the UNFCCC meetings - The ACMEN which stands for The African Ministerial
Conference on the Environment was established in December 1985 and is meant to provide
advocacy for environmental protection in Africa.

Moreover, in 2002, the African Union was created in order to promote Africa’s regional
influence, as well as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), adopted by the
African Union from 2002 and aiming to coordinate the impact and the pace of the continent’s
development in the 21st century.

By joining these alliances, African states initiated their own regional preparatory meetings to
coordinate a common approach to the issues being discussed and were thus better prepared and
better acknowledged during the negotiation rounds. Whereas the African countries were
previously largely following the lead of other developing countries such as China and India,
creating and actively joining regional alliances helped them become a rather independent
negotiation group.

Nevertheless, if the creation of regional alliances fosters African states’ influence as a group, it
is important to note that global policies will be felt differently by African countries. Indeed,
considering their different geographic positioning and thus their different vulnerability to
climate change, countries that rely on oil exports, such as Nigeria, that are made up of islands
or that are in a current process of industrializing will all be differently impacted by climate
change global policies. Therefore, the fact that independent states are represented by regional
entities can constitute a brake.

African states gaining ground in international negotiations thanks to a better preparative work

Over the last decade, the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) position in the

34
negotiation process has positively evolved. At the 1992 Earth Summit organized in Rio de
Janeiro, where the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was
signed, the AGN’s negotiating position was undermined due to internal barriers such as
inadequate resources, limited access to high-quality information, poor negotiating skills and a
lack of achievement of regional objectives. Nevertheless, over the last years, the AGN has
showed better results in the achievement of their national goals and has become more proactive
and influential during international negotiations.

In 2006, for example, during the 12th Conference of the Parties (COP12) held in Nairobi, Kenya,
the AGN thrived to put the Clean Development Mechanism at the center of the negotiations.
The AGN also thrived to gain more voice on the topic of climate finance during the Copenhagen
and Durban Climate Summits. That was made possible thanks to three factors:

- Thanks to better knowledge about the costs of climate change, the African negotiators
have been able to persuade leaders to allocate a more important share of scarce domestic
resources to the negotiations. Better informed about the international funding
opportunities, the African negotiators have also thrived to gain access to more funding
from multilateral and bilateral donors;
- At the end of the 2000s, an increasing number of non-governmental experts have been
accepted in official delegations, which has increased the size and quality of African
delegations taking part to international negotiation rounds;
- The dialogue between African leaders and technical negotiators has been improved
thanks to the development of Clean Development Mechanism incentives.

Therefore, by cooperating and uniting themselves through alliances and coalitions, by

improving their access to information, by developing progressively their negotiation skills and
by creating effective regional structures, the African continent successfully gained more
visibility during international negotiations. Thanks to an active participation to negotiation
rounds, they have better acknowledged the risks of climate change and could better understand
their needs in terms of international funding. We therefore understand that international
cooperation is necessary and has a positive impact, when it comes to climate change mitigation
and adaptation.

35
Part 3-2. The impacts of climate change, focus on the African continent

General conclusion

Climate fluctuations enhanced by climate change severely impact African countries’

economic, ecologic and social activities, and undermine populations’ well-being. The
resources repartition, the food security, the exposure to environmental risks and the
health, security and standards living of the African population are at stake.

In relation to this high vulnerability, conflicts among populations increase and migration
movements occur, toward areas that are less affected by climate change, or better
equipped to face climate challenges. The consequent instability, combined with a high
urbanization growth, require the development of sustainable and adaptive measures,
especially in the infrastructure sector. In order for these positive changes to happen in
terms of adaptation, it is necessary to foster international cooperation.

Since recent years, the African governmental representatives have successfully increase
their participation to international negotiation rounds on the topic of climate change.
Nevertheless, technology-transfer and capacity building between developed and
developing countries must be fostered, in order for African developing countries to
develop efficient climate change mitigation measures, to limit the magnitude of long-
term global warming related effects.

In the following part of the research study, we will further study the rapid urbanization
growth in African developing countries, and we will propose a study of Smart City
initiatives, as a way to address climate change’s negative impacts.

36
3.3 A need for Smart Cities development

3.3.1 A rapid urban growth worldwide fostering the need for Smart Cities

Urban development worldwide

According to the United Nations (2015)28, countries all over the world have experienced a
high increase in urban population over the last years. The world population is expected to rise
by more than one billion people by 2030, which would amount to approximately 8.5 billion
people, compared to a current amount of 7.5 billion people.

In the long run, the world population is expected to increase further to 9.7 billion people by
2050, and to 11.2 billion people by 2100 (United Nations, 2015). Moreover, according to the
United Nations (2015), around 58% of the World’s population (4.6 billion people) will reside
in urban areas by 2050. This means that by 2050, city dwellers would outnumber rural dwellers
by a ratio of two to one.

In 2015, the United Nations also predicted that by 2063, the African population would peak at
3 billion, and at 4.4 billion by 2100.

Today, 90% of urban expansion happens in developing countries. The African continent, which
alone represents 16% of the overall world population will be highly impacted by the increase
in population and by the urbanization process.

Moreover, according to the United Nations (2014)29, an increasing number of megacities will
develop on the African continent. Hence, urban areas (less than 300 000) and small cities (300
000 to 500 000) will grow and become small (500 000 to 1 million) and medium (1 to 5 million)
cities.

28United Nations Report (2015). The World Population Prospects : 2015 Revision.
URL : https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2015-report.html

29
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2014). World Urbanization
Prospects: The 2014 Revision, Highlights (ST/ESA/SER.A/352).

37
Urban development in Africa

According to the work of Annez, P. C., & Buckley, R. (2009)30, the urbanization process
is mainly associated with a population movement from the rural hinterlands, to rural market
towns, which will increase in relation to climate change.

In theory, urban agglomerations are linked to industrialization, as well as a transformation of

economies. Hence, according to Annez, P. C., & Buckley, R. (2009), growing urban
agglomerations evolve from rural agriculture-based ones to industry and service-based ones.
This transformation comes along with a transition from low-income to middle and high-income
status. Nevertheless, the African urbanization remains disconnected from industrialization.

According to the United Nations (2017)31, more than 70% of the African population lives in
cities constituted of less than 100 000 people. The African population is mostly scattered in
small towns which are linked up with low density road networks. Moreover, more than 60% of
the African urban population is located in secondary cities or small towns.

This growth raises questions about the capacity of cities to support a rising need to have access
to natural and economic resources. Furthermore, providing basic city services to citizens in a
sustainable way is another major concern today. In order to face the issues related to this fast
growth, such as resource management, an increasing number of smart cities are being
developed.

To conclude, the rapid urbanization growth in Africa, closely linked to economic concerns and
increased due to climate change vulnerability, increases the need for a sustainable urban
development. In that context, developing Smart City initiatives is a promising opportunity.

3.3.2 A need for new infrastructures and effective public services delivery
Challenges linked to a rapid urbanization

30Annez, P. C., & Buckley, R. (2009). Urbanization and growth: Setting the context. In M. Spence, P. C. Annez
& R. M. Buckley (Eds.), Urbanization and growth. Commission on growth and development (pp. 1-45).
Washington, DC: The World Bank.

31
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2017), World Population
Prospects: The 2017 Revision, Key Findings and Advance Tables. Working Paper No. ESA/P/WP/248.

38
Climate change increases the level of urbanization, as poor rural areas are negatively impacted
by natural disasters. A rapid urbanization has several consequences and therefore a change in
the way cities are managed must occur, for a sustainable development to happen.

According to the report Smart Sustainable Cities: A Blueprint for Africa (2017)32, a high level
of urbanization increases the need for a careful management of:

- Traffic management: urbanization leads to traffic congestion, which undermines the

accessibility of communities to city services. In African cities, costs linked to traffic
congestion are high. In Nairobi, for example, traffic congestion costs approximately
$500,000 a day. It can cost over $8 billion a year in cities like Cairo;

- Energy management: it is estimated that 75% of the world’s energy is consumed in

cities. The energy consumption per capita increases sharply when urbanization occurs,
and there is, as a consequence, a need for new power generation and transmission
distribution of energy in cities;

- Water supply: urbanization leads to an increase in water delivery and it remains a

challenge for African cities. In 2015, 40% of the population living in sub-Saharan Africa
had no access to reliable water sources and the risk of water contamination remains
extremely high today;

- Security and public safety: a rapid urbanization raises the likelihood of congestion, of
unemployment and the level of insecurity and criminality increases as a consequence.
Providing citizens with effective security systems is therefore a major challenge in
densely populated areas. The public safety must also be ensured in order for the citizens
to cope with natural disasters linked to climate change;

- Social services: in a context of rapid urbanization, the efficient accommodation of social

services is also at stake in Africa. Public Service bodies in charge of the improvement

32 Smart Sustainable Cities: A Blueprint for Africa (2017). Smart Africa, Republic of Rwanda.

39
 in services delivery for the health and education sectors often lack autonomy, resources
and capacities.

Thus, as stated by the African Development Bank Group (2012)33, the growing urban
population in Africa puts pressure on physical infrastructures and on the delivery of local
utilities such as roads, water or low voltage electricity. The delivery of local utilities is made
even more complex considering the very little planning of urban areas. The lack of urban
planning leads to important peri-urban sprawl, with peri-urban dwellers often living in informal
and unplanned settlements and enhances several challenges, such as urban mobility and air
pollution management. The overall outcome of a poor urban planning is harmful to the
environment.

It has thus become a major challenge to accommodate urban populations and to build a
favorable urban physical environment.

Costs related to a rapid urbanization

Urban expansion in Africa mainly takes place near coastlines and rivers, which are areas
facing greater natural hazard. As was mentioned earlier, coastlines and rivers are more likely
to face natural disasters such as floods, tsunamis or hurricanes than other given areas.
According to the work of Jonathan Woetzel, Nicklas Garemo, Jan Mischke, Martin Hjerpe,
Robert Palter (2016)34, coastal cities over the world could face a loss of $1 trillion due to natural
disasters caused by rising sea levels and coastal lands collapse, if no urban resilience
investments are being made.

According to the work of of Jonathan Woetzel, Nicklas Garemo, Jan Mischke, Martin Hjerpe,
Robert Palter (2016)35, on average, the World’s governments currently spend $2.5 trillion each

33 African Development Bank Group (2012). Urbanization in Africa. URL : https://www.afdb.org/en/blogs/afdb-

championing-inclusive-growth-across-africa/post/urbanization-in-africa-10143/
34 Jonathan Woetzel, Nicklas Garemo, Jan Mischke, Martin Hjerpe, Robert Palter (2016), Bridging infrastructure

gaps, in collaboration with McKinsey’s capital projects and infrastructure practice

40
year for building and repairing infrastructures. For low and middle-income countries, an
additional $1.3 trillion is required.

Furthermore, an average of $3.3 trillion a year (total of $71 trillion) should be invested in
infrastructure projects worldwide until 2030 to support the expected rates of economic growth
(the economic growth being directly linked to the urbanization process). It was underlined in
Jonathan Woetzel, Nicklas Garemo, Jan Mischke, Martin Hjerpe, Robert Palter (2016) study
that in addition to the $3.3 trillion investments, the United Nations estimated that an additional
$1.1 trillion per year should be invested in order for the World’s countries to achieve the 17
United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The worldwide growing urbanization combined with the rising earth temperature call for a
development of new infrastructures that can protect cities and their citizens from the harmful
impacts of climate change.

Investing in new infrastructures would provide cities with better access to water, sanitation,
energy, power, transportation and telecommunication.

Difficulties encountered in the financing of infrastructure projects

Governments find it more and more complicated to finance infrastructure projects

through public funds due to increasing public debt-to-GDP ratios and governmental deficits.
Therefore, less and less funds are being allocated to the implementation of new infrastructure
projects, in a context that, as mentioned earlier, actually requires such investments.

The developed countries’ private sector as well as international financing institutions mostly
consider that financing emerging countries for the development of infrastructure projects
represents a major risk (on political, regulatory, macroeconomic and technical points of view).
In such context, emerging countries lack international support, which is highly needed.

To conclude, the rapid urbanization growth in Africa, which is closely linked to economic
concerns and climate change vulnerability, combined with an insufficient urban planning,
increase the need for a sustainable urban development. In that context, developing Smart City
initiatives is a promising opportunity. Nevertheless, as the financing of infrastructure projects
is considered as a risk by developed countries’ private sector and international financing
institutions, the lack of funds remains a major challenge for African developing countries.

41
3.3.3 Understanding the Smart City: What is a Smart City?

The development of Smart Cities as an approach to tackle issues related to urban development
is gaining ground as these initiatives aim to solve complex problems related to a rapid
urbanization. This part will thus focus on giving a definition of the Smart City concept.

According to Hajduk (2015)36, a smart city is an integrated and comprehensive vision of all
components of urban life including: the economy, government, transport, green areas, health
care and culture. It uses communication technologies to increase operational efficiency and to
share information with the public, in order to improve both the quality of government services
and citizen welfare.

According to Smart Sustainable Cities: A Blueprint for Africa (2017)37, the development of
Smart City initiatives is made possible thanks to an increasing generation of data, through
citizens’ connectivity on mobiles and social platforms. Thanks to such connectivity, it is made
possible for citizens to provide instant feedbacks on city services and operations. Through a
growing connectivity, citizens increasingly generate data, and can thus better engage in city
planning and management.

On the African continent, there is a high mobile internet penetration, but also high infrastructure
deficits: there is thus a unique opportunity to incorporate advanced technology in the planning
and management of increasingly densely populated cities.

According to Khadijat Nda Yakubu (2018)38, by using smart technologies and carrying data
collection and analysis in a fast and effective way, a smart city optimizes the city functions,
which leads both to an increasing economic growth and to a better quality of life for citizens.
In that sense, a smart city refers to an environment in which Information and Communications
Technology (ICTs), as well as sensor systems disappear as they become embedded into physical
objects and the surroundings in which citizens live, travel and work.

36 Hajduk, Sławomira. (2016). The Concept of a Smart City in Urban Management. Business, Management and
Education. 14. 34-49. 10.3846/bme.2016.319.
37 Smart Sustainable Cities: A Blueprint for Africa (2017). Smart Africa, Republic of Rwanda.
38 Khadijat Nda Yakubu (2018). Prospects and Challenges of Smart City Development in Nigeria, Conference

Paper

42
This digital process will continue to gain ground, as the digital economy worldwide is expected
to grow. According to Global Industry Vision (GIV 2025)39, the number of smart devices will
reach 40 billion by 2025, generating around 100 billion connections worldwide. This very high
number of available data constitutes a unique opportunity: they will drive the development of
Smart Cities on an international scale and will thus contribute to a more sustainable economic
development worldwide.

Study focus - What are the technologies that enable the development of Smart City initiatives?

According to Smart Sustainable Cities: A Blueprint for Africa (2017)40, Smart City projects can
be implemented, through the use of:

- Big data;
- Social medias;
- Mobile broadband, through the inclusion of high-speed internet and wireless networks
for home, commercial and public use;
- Cloud (big data storage);
- Internet of Things – everyday tools connected to sensors that enable the capture of data,
sensing and communication between the object and the end-users.

According to Smart Sustainable Cities: A Blueprint for Africa (2017), the different sectors
where Smart City technological innovations can play a role are the following:

City flows

- Waste;
- Water;
- Air;
- Energy;
- Pollution limitation;
- Urban sprawl;

39
Global Industry Vision (2018) Global Industry Vision 2025, Unfolding the Industry Blueprint of an Intelligent
World, Huawei Technologies

40 Smart Sustainable Cities: A Blueprint for Africa (2017). Smart Africa, Republic of Rwanda.

43
 - Transport congestion.

City services & smart governance

- Registration services;
- Revenue collection;
- Education;
- Social and welfare services.

Basic city services, security

- Healthcare and public health;

- Fire response, police, ambulance…

Image 1. Sectors where Smart Cities play a role.

Source: Smart Sustainable Cities: A Blueprint for Africa (2017). Smart Africa,
Republic of Rwanda.

44
In a context of climate change, smart cities will also tackle environmental concerns such as air
pollution. Thanks to initiatives such as smart sensors and smart grid technology, energy
conservation and energy efficiency can be highly improved.

According to Interact41, smart sensors, on the one hand, are very useful to warn cities against
coming droughts, floods, landslides or hurricanes. The smart grid system on the other hand, an
electrical grid which includes a various range of energy measures, uses technologies that
improve planning, operations and maintenance, that supply power on demand and monitor the
energy outages.

These tools enable cities to better provide water, energy, sanitation for their citizens, and can
also help to better manage traffic. Moreover, the use of technology enables a better delivery of
social welfare, improves security and education.

To conclude, appropriate management tools for planning, strategizing, measuring and

accounting can help manage cities in order to produce an experience of life in a city which
becomes much safer, greener, more sustainable and more optimized. Smart Cities, through the
collection, analysis and use of data, can develop solutions that enable cities to better adapt to
climate change, and that also decrease the level of pollution.

3.3.4 Understanding the Smart City: What initiatives can be implemented?

In the following part of the research study, we present examples of initiatives related to the
use of data and technologies, that increase the sustainability of cities.

Transportation area
According to Global Industry Vision (2018)42, the transportation industry will be concerned by
intelligent technology. By 2025, more than 60 million vehicles are expected to be connected to
5G networks and the totality of the new developed vehicles will be connected to the internet.

41
Interact, the IoT and Climate Change. URL :https://www.interact-lighting.com/global/iot-lighting/the-iot-and-
climate-change
42 Global Industry Vision (2018) Global Industry Vision 2025, Unfolding the Industry Blueprint of an Intelligent

World, Huawei Technologies

45
In order to help drivers to find a parking place, more and more apps are developed. The use of
these apps decreases the prolonged drivers circling time, as well as traffic congestions. The
smart parking meter apps have a digital payment system, which makes payment quicker and
easier for citizens.

In order to optimize traffic and to decrease the level of congestions, smart cities have developed
smart traffic management systems. Traffic flow data is analyzed and directly transferred to
streetlights.

In order to ensure that public transportation meets user demand, smart cities have developed
smart public transit, which aims to coordinate services and meet users’ needs in real time. This
system improves the public transportation efficiency, and together with it, citizens’ satisfaction.

In a current context where sharing-economy gains popularity, many cities have developed car-
pooling apps, as well as electrical car fleet rental systems. This is, for example, the case in
Copenhagen, with the Renault Zoé car fleet.

Through the development of such solutions, the ecological footprint of citizens and cities
decreases.

High-efficient infrastructures

Smart buildings are part of smart cities’ projects. They relate to sensors that can detect wear,
tear, leaks in water pipe systems, potholes, and notify whenever a repair is needed in the
building. The inhabitants can connect themselves to a mobile app which is itself connected to
the building sensors.

This initiative improves buildings efficiency, prevents an over-use of energy (for example of
water in case of a leak) and reduces costs. Through the development of such solutions, the
ecological footprint of citizens and cities decreases.

Waste collection and water management

The sanitation process can be made more efficient in municipalities thanks to smart
technologies. Smart cities therefore use internet-connected solutions, such as sensors, to enable
fleet management systems for waste collection. Concerning water management, sensors are
increasingly used in order to guarantee the quality of the drinking water.

46
3.3.5 Understanding the Smart City: Which Smart City initiative for which
African challenge?

According to the work of Mira Slavova and Ekene Okwechime (2016)43, in Africa, the
population is set to grow and thus a sustainable urban development where mechanisms for
inclusion and participation of the population is required. African cities will need to improve
their infrastructures, transportation, sanitation and healthcare systems, as well as their services
delivery and housing management.

In that sense, the implementation of ICT could enable African cities to tackle such issues in an
efficient and intelligent way.

The following table, that was developed by Mira Slavova and Ekene Okwechime (2016), lists
the elements of global best-practice of ‘smart city’ implementations that could be beneficial to
overcoming African urban challenges and climate change challenges and forging Agenda 2063.

As underlined in an article written by NEPAD44, the Agenda 2063 was adopted by African
leaders in 2015, as the continent’s new long-term vision for the next 50 years. The aim of
Agenda 2063 is to optimize Africa’s resources for the benefit of the continent’s people.

The table presents the different urban challenges faced by African countries and the Smart City
initiatives that should be developed to face these challenges.

43 Slavova, Mira & Okwechime, Ekene. (2016). African Smart Cities Strategies for Agenda 2063. Africa Journal
of Management. 2. 10.1080/23322373.2016.1175266.
44 NEPAD, Agenda 2063. URL : http://nepad.org/cop/agenda-2063
47
 Table 2: Smart cities and African Urban Challenges.

Source: Slavova, Mira & Okwechime, Ekene. (2016). African Smart Cities Strategies for
Agenda 2063. Africa Journal of Management. 2. 10.1080/23322373.2016.1175266.

48
3.3.6 Understanding the Smart City: How is a Smart City funded and
financed?

In this section, our purpose is to understand why the development of a Smart City
represents an economic opportunity. We will also describe the way Smart Cities are being
funded and financed.

Smart City: an economic opportunity

According to an article written by Smart Cities World Forums45, mentioning a study led
by ABI Research46, a city could save around $4.95 billion per year by developing the Smart
City model and governments, companies and citizens could save more than $5 trillion per year
by 2022 thanks to the use of technologies developed in the framework of Smart Cities.

Indeed, the creation of new smart and clean infrastructures increase the value of the surrounding
area where projects are built. Through the value increase of the area, the government can
capture a part of the appreciation through the use of direct charges or taxes, put in place for the
infrastructure access.

Moreover, the use of Smart City technologies contributes to major savings. For example, by
putting sensors in buildings, the temperature can be managed and regulated through an
application, so that the temperature can never get too warm or too cold. Thanks to such sensors,
savings in terms of energy use are made, which are interesting both from an economic and an
environmental point of view. Such solutions have a positive impact on the environment, thus
limiting climate change growth.

Another example that illustrates this point is the use of sensors in water delivery systems (water
pumps). Thanks to sensors located in such systems, data can be collected concerning the water
leaks that might occur in the system. Because the sensors can locate the exact place where the
leak takes place, it is then possible to do maintenance and repairing work on that specific

45 Smart Cities World Forums, Research firm claims smart city technologies could save governments 5 trillion by
2022, URL : http://www.smartcitiesworldforums.com/news/smart-cities-north-america/finance-policy-na/699-
research-firm-claims-smart-city-technologies-could-save-governments-5-trillion-by-2022

49
location –instead of changing the entire system. Thus, also in this case, savings in terms of
energy consumption are made, which contributes to savings on an economic and environmental
point of view.

Smart City: Where to find the funds?

In the following part, we expose the findings of Michael Flynn, A. Kishore Rao, James
Horner, Drilon S. Gashi (2018)47, in relation to Smart City funding. Because the concept of
Smart Cities is relatively new and has only be partially tested, it represents in itself a risk, that
decreases the willingness of governments to invest in it. Smart Cities represent large-scale and
ambitious initiatives and their financing is expensive. In that sense, it is a requirement for cities
to explore funding models that go beyond governmental budget expenses.

In the following table, we summarized the different funding and financing means, by collecting
findings provided by Michael Flynn, A. Kishore Rao, James Horner, Drilon S. Gashi (2018):

Funding Financing
Cash inflow that does not need repayment, Temporary provision of cash-flow resources
used for the implementation of a project that require a repayment
- Property taxes - Public sector banks
- Income taxes - Commercial banks
- Retail taxes - Municipal or project bonds
- Business taxes (license for ex.) - Pension fund private placement bonds
- Municipal income tax - Development banks/multilaterals
- Tolls and user charges - Equity investment and infrastructure fund
- Asset disposals managers
- Budget allocations received - Leasing and vendor finance
- Grants received

47 Michael Flynn, A. Kishore Rao, James Horner, Drilon S. Gashi (2018). Smart Cities Funding and Financing in
Developing Economies, Assisting developing cities to finance their infrastructure gap through private sector participation
approaches, Deloitte Development LLC.
50
 A common source of infrastructure projects funding is made through the collection of
own-source revenues by the government (see “funding” in the table above). Thanks to these
revenues, the government can invest in new infrastructure projects.

Nevertheless, own-source revenues are usually not sufficient enough to cover the expenses
needed for the development of Smart City large-scale infrastructure projects. This is particularly
the case for developing countries, where the population is in receipt of a low-income: the
residents generate too few taxes and fees. In that sense, it is relevant for developing countries
to implement public-private partnerships (PPP) in order to finance their infrastructure projects.

The PPP constitutes an increasing funding model for the development of Smart Cities. Through
a PPP, a partnership between the public and private sectors (mainly with technology companies)
is implemented, through which development costs and risks associated with Smart Cities are
being shared, as well as the rewards. In the framework of a PPP, the involved private entities
are seeking for return on investment, which represents a challenge for governmental bodies.

Finally, multilateral development banks, institutions and bilateral donors (such as the World
Bank) support the development of emerging economies, by providing:
- Funding mechanisms;
- Financing mechanisms;
- Debt finance;
- Equity finance;
- Technical assistance;
- Low-interest loans;
- Credit guarantees;
- Risk mitigation.

These financial services range from five to ten years periods and are particularly attractive
because they cover risks that can hardly be absorbed by governments and can be used in many
infrastructure projects (such as transport, water management, energy, sanitation…).

Smart City: different funding and financing for different timelines

51
 In a report made by Valerio Gori (2018)48, funding options for small-scale, medium-
size and large-scale projects can be categorized as follow :

Small-scale projects Medium-size projects Large-scale projects

Small scale projects find it
difficult to access to main
funding and financing
sources because of the
limited awareness of what
the financial market offers,
but also because it is not
very interesting to banks
(too small to be relevant).
- Crowd funding
- Venture philanthropy
- Specific programs (i.e.
EIC)
Medium-size projects,
depending on the context
and type of solutions, can
benefit from certain
dedicated public support
mechanisms, but mostly rely
on venture capitalists to have
their solutions financed.
- Venture capital
- EU/national funds
Large scale projects find it
easier to access to finance.
Indeed, promoters know the
market and the range of
products offered. Moreover,
large-scale projects benefit
from public support
mechanisms and may
involve major companies
which blend SCC into other
businesses.
- Bond financing
- Financial products
provided by commercial
banks
- EU/ national funds

The current International funds

This section is dedicated to the description of the international funds, which enable to help
emerging countries to face climate change challenges.

The Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a flexibility mechanism,

which goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to contribute to a sustainable
development. According to W. Neil Adger, Saleemul Huq,Katrina Brown, Declan Conway and
Mike Hulme (2003)49, a part of these funds is entitled to “assist particularly vulnerable

48 Valerio Gori (2018). Funding and financing Smart City, PWC report, Marketplace of the European Innovation
Partnership – Smart City and Solutions General Assembly
49 W. Neil Adger, Saleemul Huq,Katrina Brown, Declan Conway and Mike Hulme (2003). Adaptation to climate

change in the developing world, Progress in Development Studies 3,3 (2003) pp. 179–195
52
developing countries in meeting the costs of adaptation to the adverse effects of climate
change”.

Nevertheless, implementing such mechanism induces costs. According to O'Brien, Karen &
Leichenko, Robin. (2000)50, the related costs evoke a win-lose situation. Indeed, the unequal
access to financial resources and to technologies, together with the difficult decision-making
process, usually challenged by corruption in developing countries represent issues that can
hardly be tackled in marginalized societies and that undeniably lead to the failure of the efficient
development of these mechanisms.

Furthermore, an increasing number of articles written under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto
Protocol focus on the issue of adaptation. During the last seven meetings of the Climate Change
Convention, held in Marrakech in 2001, the main funds that have been discussed are the
following:

- Two funds under the Climate Change Convention;

- The Adaptation Fund under the Kyoto Protocol and managed by the Global Environment
Fund;
- The climate change focal area, Special Climate Change Fund, under the Global
Environment Fund.

These funds are entitled to finance projects related to adaptation, technology transfer, climate
change mitigation, capacity building and economic diversification and focus on countries that
are highly dependent on income from fossil fuel energies.

A ‘Least Developed Countries Fund’ has been established, which focuses on helping the least
developed countries to create and implement National Adaptation Plans of Action (NAPAs). In
order to support developing countries, several developed countries have pledged to make
contributions to the Least Developed Countries Fund, at the level of over US$400 million a
year. Following, are the different stages of the process:

50
O'Brien, Karen & Leichenko, Robin. (2000). Double Exposure: Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change
Within the Context of Economic Globalization. Global Environmental Change, 3. 10. 221 - 232. 10.1016/S0959-
3780(00)00021-2.

53
 Stage 1 • Support of studies and planning

Stage 2 • Support on detailed planning

• Support on capacity building
• Support on actual adaptations
• Stage 2 support on studies and planning

In order for these processes to be implemented successfully, it is highly important that

developing countries prepare their own detailed assessments of adaptation to climate change.
Moreover, according to Huq (2003)51, these policies must include other multilateral
environmental agreements and national sustainable development plans.

51 W. Neil Adger, Saleemul Huq,Katrina Brown, Declan Conway and Mike Hulme (2003). Adaptation to
climate change in the developing world, Progress in Development Studies 3,3 (2003) pp. 179–195
54
Part 3-3. The need for Smart Cities development

General conclusion

The rapid urbanization growth in Africa, which is closely linked to economic concerns and
climate change vulnerability, combined with an insufficient urban planning, increase the
need for a sustainable urban development. In that context, developing Smart City
initiatives is a promising opportunity.

Smart Cities, through the collection, analysis and use of data, emitted through various
communication channels, develop solutions that enable cities to better adapt to climate
change, by decreasing at the same time their level of pollution. By using communication
technologies, solutions are developed, that improve citizens welfare, security and quality
of life. As the city becomes more connected, more resilient to risks and more secure, the
attractiveness of the city increases (for international investors and foreign talents), which
leads to an overall positive economic development.

In Africa, there is a high mobile internet penetration, enabling the collection of data, but
also a high infrastructure deficit: there is thus a unique opportunity to incorporate advanced
technology in the planning and management of increasingly densely populated cities.

Finally, an important number of funding and financing options are available for the
development of Smart City initiatives. Through own-source revenues, funding from
international institutions and public-private partnerships, solutions can be tested and
developed in cities, therefore contributing to an increasing development of Smart Cities on
an international scale.

In the following part of the research study, Africa’s first Smart City is studied. The city of
Lagos, in Nigeria, is Africa’s first Smart City, and the effective development of this Smart
City could constitute an inspiring model for other African countries.

55
 Case study: The development of a smart city in
Nigeria

4.1 Nigeria’s economic, social and ecological outlook

Nigeria’s economic outlook

According to the work of Andrew S. Nevin and Omosomi Omomia (2019)52, the Federal
Republic of Nigeria is made of 36 states and one Federal Capital Territory where the capital,
Abuja, is located. The country was a British colony, which gained its independence in 1960.
The country is nowadays a regional power in Africa and is an emerging global power on an
international scale. Despite a relatively low Human Development Index (rank: 152nd), the
country has indeed recently been classified as part of the “Next Eleven” group. According to
Jim O’Neill53, the “Next Eleven” is a group of countries which are most likely to become the
World’s largest economies, together with the BRICS.

According to Olusogo Olamide Ogunleye, Oluwarotimi Ayokunnu Owolab, Muazu Mubarak

(2018)54, Nigeria is the most densely populated country in Africa, with approximately 196
million inhabitants. Called, “the Giant of Africa”, the country is the 7th most populous country
in the World, inhabits no less than 250 different ethnic groups, and is home to a young
population, with 50% of its population being aged less than 30 years old. The country’s
population is expected to rise by another 200 million people by 2050: this high population
increase in Nigeria puts pressure on important issues, related to resource management (food
and water supply), as well as housing or employment.

52
Andrew S. Nevin, Omosomi Omomia (2019). Nigeria Economic Outlook, Top 10 themes for 2019, PWC
Economic Outlook Report

53
Business Insider (2013). The Economist Who Invented The BRICs Just Invented A Whole New Group Of
Countries: The MINTs. URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/jim-oneill-presents-the-mint-economies-2013-
11?r=US&IR=T

54
Olusogo Olamide Ogunleye, Oluwarotimi Ayokunnu Owolab, Muazu Mubarak (2018). Population Growth and
Economic Growth in Nigeria: An Appraisal. International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics,
Vol. 5, No. 5, ISSN 2383-2126, 282-299
56
According to Andrew S. Nevin, Omosomi Omomia (2019)55, in 2017, the gross domestic
product of Nigeria was expected to grow to 2.5% year on year. The country’s gross domestic
product (GDP) is expected to grow by 2.3% in 2019, and by 2.4% in 2020. The increase of
Nigeria’s GDP is partly due to an improvement in domestic demand and net exports, despite a
rise in unemployment rate, and a decreasing oil demand and production supply.

Moreover, Andrew S. Nevin and Omosomi Omomia (2019) underline that the Nigerian growth
is linked to the implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (2017-2020), that
was launched by the Nigerian government in order to restore a macroeconomic stability.
Nigeria’s economy, characterized as an “emerging market” by the World Bank, is characterized
by a growing share of services in the total GDP inputs, with services representing approximately
half of the GDP. Oil and agriculture represent the two other main economic sectors contributing
to Nigeria’s GDP increase.

Furthermore, Andrew S. Nevin and Omosomi Omomia (2019) state that Nigeria has a moderate
risk of debt distress. Nevertheless, in 2018, the public debt has increased by $2.2 billion,
reaching $73.2 billion. The Nigerian government chose to prioritize foreign debt: in 2018, a
Eurobond amounting $2.9 billion was issued, which mitigated the high financing costs of
domestic borrowing.

In 2018, the country’s global foreign direct investments (FDI) fell by 19%, when FDI flows to
Africa rose by 6% (from US$38 billion to US$40 billion). The key risks to foreign investment
include:
- Declining interest rate differentials as advanced economies continue to tighten policy rates;
- Political instability following the 2019 elections;
- Unfavorable investment climate;
- Broad macroeconomic instability.

Nigeria: resources access and management

55Andrew S. Nevin, Omosomi Omomia (2019). Nigeria Economic Outlook, Top 10 themes for 2019, PWC
Economic Outlook Report
57
According to Business France Nigeria (2019)56, despite being Africa's leading producer of
crude oil, Nigeria is failing to meet its energy needs, and waste and water management still
needs to be improved. The following table underlines that energy, water, sanitation and waste
management represent major challenges for Nigeria:

Rate of access to electricity / in urban areas 59.3% / 86%

Rate of access to drinking water 19%
Access rate to sanitation 55% southern states 18% northern states
Urban waste collection rate (urban waste / 20 to 30%
urban pop)

Nigeria and climate change

The Kyoto Protocol was ratified by Nigeria in 2004. In 2010, aware of the climate change
concerns, the Nigerian Minister of Petroleum announced an ambitious plan to become carbon
neutral by 2025.

Even if oil remains the main basis of Nigeria’s economy, the country is setting high goals in
terms of climate policy: Nigeria aims to gain a better access and involvement in technology
transfer as well as CDM. Nevertheless, the fact that Nigeria is a member of the Organization of
the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) often plays an undermining role during climate
change negotiations.

4.2 Nigeria’s urban development

According to the work of Olusogo Olamide Ogunleye, Oluwarotimi Ayokunnu Owolab,

Muazu Mubarak (2018)57, Nigeria is one of the fastest growing countries worldwide. According
to the Central Bank of Nigeria, the population growth rate was approximately 2.44% in 2016,

56 Business France Nigeria (2019). Le marché de la ville durable au Nigéria, édition 2019
57 Olusogo Olamide Ogunleye, Oluwarotimi Ayokunnu Owolab, Muazu Mubarak (2018). Population Growth and Economic
Growth in Nigeria: An Appraisal. International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics, Vol. 5, No. 5, ISSN 2383-
2126, 282-299

58
making Nigeria the most populated country in Africa. In 2016, the population in Nigeria was
estimated at 182.2 Million. Lagos is Africa’s largest city of 18 million citizens and the seventh
largest in the world.

Ongoing urban development in Lagos

It is of importance to understand the ongoing urban development of the country, as well as

the first initiatives that have been set up. The different urban development plans that have been
developed in Nigeria, starting in 1960 will thus be presented, according to the work of Olusogo
Olamide Ogunleye, Oluwarotimi Ayokunnu Owolab, Muazu Mubarak (2018)58.

In the 1970s, Nigeria faced a massive movement of its population from the countryside to the
cities and the current projections indicate that the number of people living in Nigerian urban
centers will peak at 100 million by 2020.

These changes had major consequences in the country, such as the emergence of crimes and
thus citizens’ security, unemployment, poverty and slums. The urbanization in Nigeria also
impacted the repartition and the management of land for housing, the unplanned land
development, the business premises access and raised environmental questions (such as the
issue of a non-sufficient equipment for the collection of waste).

In these conditions, the Nigerian government started taking initiatives in the field of urban
planning. Between 1960 and 1966, instead of setting up a strategic plan to resolve the physical
planning challenges faced by the country, the Nigerian government developed a plan that
focused on sectoral and economic planning.

Between 1970 and 1974, in a post-war context, the government developed a second National
Development Plan, that aimed to reconstruct the Eastern parts of the country.

Between 1975 and 1980, environmental concerns raised: The Nigerian government created the
Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Environment, with a great focus on
environment and rural development. During this period and under the newly created Federal

58 Olusogo Olamide Ogunleye, Oluwarotimi Ayokunnu Owolab, Muazu Mubarak (2018). Population Growth and Economic
Growth in Nigeria: An Appraisal. International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics, Vol. 5, No. 5, ISSN 2383-
2126, 282-299

59
Ministry, a third National Development Plan was created, with a great emphasis on urban
development planning. Under that national initiative, the Nigerian government started a project:
the development of twenty major urban centers. From this area, three cities were created: The
Abuja City, as well as the Onne Satellite and FESTAC towns. Nevertheless, it was largely
argued that the Abuja City constituted the only city focusing on smart solutions.

Between 1979 and 1983 and under the Military Government of Nigeria’s Second Republic, a
fourth National Development Plan began. The central objective of this plan was to define the
role of physical planning as a tool for achieving national development objectives, as well as
putting forward some policy measures that were of planning interest.

In a context of rapid urbanization, developing a sustainable infrastructure network is of

significant importance. Aware of that importance, the Nigerian government has decided to
implement smart city initiatives in the city of Lagos, which offers great potential. The following
part will focus on the development of the Nigerian Smart City in Lagos, Africa’s first smart
city.

4.3 The development of the Nigerian Smart City in Lagos

4.3.1 Lagos: a promising environment for Smart City development

According to Rafiq Raji (2018)59, Lagos has the seventh largest GDP in Africa (about US$136
billion in 2017). The city’s economy constitutes about a third of Nigeria’s output and earns the
highest annual tax revenue of all the 36 federal states and Federal Capital Territory. With a total
population of 20 million, Lagos represents the most populous city in Africa and constitutes one
of the fastest growing cities in the World. Furthermore, Lagos is ranked among the major
financial centers in Africa.

As underlined previously and according to Rafiq Raji (2018), technology plays a major role in
the development of Smart City projects. Lagos, is considered as the most valuable African tech
city (before Cape Town, Johannesburg and Nairobi), with a startup ecosystem valued at $2
billion. Moreover, in a country which has the fastest uptake of phone services in Africa, Lagos
regroups all Nigeria’s tech firms and is home to four GSM Mobile networks headquarters.

59 Rafiq Raji (2018). Smart Lagos: Status, Prospects and Opportunities, Business Day Review, NTU-SBF Centre
for African Studies
60
Therefore, the city of Lagos has a great potential in the technology sector and has received
support from the government. As underlined by Rafiq Raji (2018) the Lagos tech scene obtained
the main part of the start-up funding for Nigeria in 2016 (total funding for Nigeria, $109.37
million) whereas other African countries such as South Africa and Kenya obtained,
respectively, a tech startup financing of $96.75 million and $92.7 million.

Rafiq Raji (2018) explains that an increasing number of global tech executives, such as Mark
Zuckerberg (Facebook’s chief executive) or Sundar Pichal (Google’s chief executive) visit the
city of Lagos, aiming to implement or further develop their activities there. With such a large
local market, the country indeed represents an interesting target of services of these tech firms.
Moreover, Nigerian software engineers constitutes a cheap talent base for these firms, earning
70% as much as their counterparts in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

The city of Lagos thus represent a land of opportunity, for the development of Smart City
initiatives.

4.3.2 The Nigerian government focusing on the development of Smart City

initiatives

On a large-scale and according to Sara Turner, Jakkie Cilliers and Barry Hughes
(2015)60, the African continent has set multiple sustainable development goals in order to
eliminate poverty and to implement a sustainable and green economic growth, through the
creation of the Agenda 2063. This initiative has been taken in the framework of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) agenda negotiations.

In Nigeria, more precisely, the government aims to focus on its strong technology sector
to drive smart city projects. The main city which the government focuses on is Lagos, Nigeria’s
fastest growing city. Through the development of smart city projects, the government’s goal is
to connect Lagos’ human and social capital, as well as the city’s ICT infrastructure to achieve
a sustainable urban development and to tackle the issues related to public services.

60 Sara Turner, Jakkie Cilliers and Barry Hughes (2015). Reasonable goals for reducing poverty in Africa, Targets

for the post-2015 MDGs and Agenda 2063

61
The overall goal is to provide Nigerian citizens with a better quality of life, in fields related to
security, transportation and connectivity, education and to public administrative services.

In that context, as explained by Khadijat Nda Yakubu (2018)61, the State government of Lagos
has signed a partnership with Dubai Holdings LLC, owners of Smart City Dubai LLC in June
2016. Through this partnership, stakeholders from Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
public and private sectors are connected in order to develop a smart and sustainable knowledge-
based community and to drive a knowledge economy. The UAE is a leading state in the field
of smart city initiatives development (artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles…). Through
the development of such partnership, the UAE can provide interesting advice to the Nigerian
state concerning the empowerment of its tech sector and can thus contribute to an efficient
development of smart city projects.

4.3.3 Lagos Smart City’s area focuses and current projects

This part of our research will present the main areas that the Nigerian government currently
focuses on, regarding the development of Lagos Smart City.

Rafiq Raji (2018)62 explained that in 2012, a development plan was created in the city of Lagos,
called “The Lagos Development Plan”. The implementation of the development plan started in
2012 and will be further developed until 2025. The plan focuses on specific areas, such as
developing the city’s transport infrastructure, reforming the bus transit system, as well as
expanding the city’s highway. These initiatives will be developed in cooperation with the
country’s private sector. Other projects, such as the upgrade of road and parking infrastructure
are a focus of the development plan.

Following, we provide a detailed list of the projects being developed in Nigeria, in the
framework of the Smart City development (Business France Nigeria, 2019)63:

Urban services

61 Khadijat Nda Yakubu (2018). Prospects and Challenges of Smart City Development in Nigeria, Conference
Paperthe
62 Rafiq Raji (2018) Smart Lagos: Status, Prospects and Opportunities, Business Day Review, NTU-SBF Centre

for African Studies

63 Business France Nigeria (2019). Le marché de la ville durable au Nigéria, édition 2019

62
• A waste management policy was set up in early 2018 by the city of Lagos, which now has
a waste treatment center;
• The National Urban Water Sector Reform Program is intended to improve access to
drinking water in urban areas, the financial viability of public water companies and the
governance of the sector through the promotion of public-private partnerships.

Urban mobility

• The construction of a portion of the Abuja metro line inaugurated in the summer of 2018;
• The construction of a portion of the Lagos metro line currently underway;
• The numerous rehabilitation or extension projects for railways to connect all the federal
capitals;
• The Lagos City Bus System Reform Project implemented between 2017 and 2018 through
the implementation of High Level Service Bus Lines (BRTs);
• The development of river shuttles and river stations in the city of Lagos to reduce congestion.

Smart networks

• In 2016, the government announced its intention to transfer the computer village of Yaba
(Lagos district) to a location dedicated to technology called Yabacon Valley. The goal is to
stimulate innovative creations;
• In 2018, the JCDecaux group set up a Lagos Transport Information City (LATIS) intelligence
transport system project that enables the dissemination of real-time traffic information in
Lagos;
• Facebook launched in early 2018 its first tech place in Africa, in Lagos. The NG_HUB
program to help SMEs in the technology sector. The goal of this incubator program is to
develop local expertise;
• Signature of a MOU in 2016 with Dubai Holding LLC, in charge of Dubai's transition to
develop the sustainable city of Lekki-Ijebu (free trade trade zone);
• Further installation of Wi-Fi infrastructure around the city of Lagos.

Territory development

• The construction of the country's first high-seas port and West Africa in the Lekki free trade
zone for 1.53 billion USD. This project will also relieve the port of Apapa, which is
63
 currently facing a high level of traffic jam. The project also aims to include the development
of an international airport;
• In order to support the development of this new economic hub, the developer Rendavour
launched in January 2019 the construction of the new town Alaro City which will extend
over a field of 2,000 hectares;
• Construction of Eko Atlantic, African Dubai. A 10-km2 city that will be built on the sea off
Victoria Island District, it will also include a business center and apartment buildings.

Security

• Investments in high definition cameras detecting activities days and nights;

• Investment in broadband connectivity (for the police to better monitor security in Lagos);
• Deployment of 10,000 closed-circuit video cameras, which will be fully integrated with a
Centralized Emergency Command and Control Centre.

Information technology

• Investments in numerous portals, applications and infrastructures for e-governance.

Sectors: educational, private school registration, Lagos state online recruitment portal,
driver’s license processing and verification portal.

Tech startup collaboration

• The development of “workspace vouchers” to enable tech entrepreneurs secure funding

support to acquire workspaces in any one of the numerous innovation hubs in the city;
• The development of “hub loans” to provide capital to hub operators looking to expand or
for those looking to invest in hubs;
• The development of “events sponsorship” to enable tech entrepreneurs organize events to
seek talent, publicize products or conduct any other related activities related to their
business area;
• Foster the development of start-up events, such as the “Secure Lagos Hackathon” in order
to promote solutions developed by Lagos start-up ecosystem;
• Foster the development of conferences related to the development of smart solutions such
as “The Coworking Conference”, which was organized in July 2018;

64
• Foster the development of start-up boot camps, such as “Launchpad Start Lagos” – a one
week long event for startups to help them on their first stage development (product strategy,
technology, marketing, business development, presentation skills…).

4.3.4 Entities supporting the development of Lagos Smart City

In order to foster collaboration between the public and private sectors, several institutions
focusing on smart city initiatives have been created during the last couple of years in Nigeria.
Hence, in 2002, an investment infrastructure company has seen the light, SmartCity Resors Plc,
aiming to create a modern real estate has been created, together with the SmartCity Innovation
Hub.

According to Rafiq Raji (2018), SmartCity Innovation Hub, located in the Lekki-Epe corridor
of Lagos, will once completed “provide a conducive cocoon in terms of physical and ICT
infrastructure, energy, regulatory and fiscal policies for the optimum and most profitable
operation and development of technology products and/or service companies.”64

Benefiting from close support from Nigeria’s public sector, corporate and private ICT
stakeholders, the ICT park SmartCity Innovation Hub aims to accelerate the development of
technology in West Africa and to promote Nigeria as the #1 African tech market (Rafiq Raji,
2018). The Hub provides ICT infrastructure, energy, regulatory and fiscal policies that facilitate
the development of tech companies. By developing and promoting attractive policies, the
SmartCity Innovation Hub eases the development of tech companies’ products and services
across West Africa.

Moreover, the projects mentioned above are supported by the following entities (Business
France Nigeria, 2019)65:

Public entities

• Nigerian Ministry of Public Works

64
Rafiq Raji (2018). Smart Lagos: Status, Prospects and Opportunities, Business Day Review, NTU-SBF Centre
for African Studies

65 Business France Nigeria (2019). Le marché de la ville durable au Nigéria, édition 2019
65
 • Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)
• World Bank
• Governments (Nigeria, Niger, Bénin, Togo and Burkina)
• European Union
• African Development Bank
• Agence Française de Développement
• BIDC

Private entities

• South Energy Nigeria Limited

• Rendeavour
• BUA
• Alaro City
• Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM)

International stakeholders part of the projects development

• Bouygues
• Egis
• Saint Gobain
• Julius Berger
• Eagle Hills
• Chicason Group
• China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC)
• Sinohydro Corporation Limited (SHC)
• CGCOC Group Co. Limited
• Lafarge
• THG
• Wärtsilä
• Grid Solutions (General Electric)
• Sieyuan-Sac
• TBEA
• Energo Projekt & New Apo
66
 • Dangote Industries Limited
• Lafarge Africa Plc
• Unilever Nigeria Plc
• Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc
• Nigeria LNG Limited
• China Road and Bridge Corporation Nigeria Ltd

To conclude, there are many private and public entities, participating in the developement of
Lagos Smart City.

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Part 4. Case study: the development of a Smart City in Nigeria

General conclusion

As other African developing countries, Nigeria faces a high level of urbanization. The
current projections indicate that the number of people living in Nigerian urban centers
will peak at 100 million by 2020. Lagos is currently the most populous city in Africa,
with a population that is expected to highly increase in the coming years.

In a context of rapid urbanization, developing a sustainable and resilient infrastructure

network is of significant importance. Thanks to such infrastructural development, the
African countries’ vulnerability to climate change will decrease, and their level of
adaptation will be improved.

Aware of this major stake, multiple sustainable development goals have been developed
on the African continent, to foster the implementation of a sustainable and green
economic growth (the Agenda 2063). In Nigeria, the government aims to focus on its
strong technology sector to drive smart city projects in the city of Lagos, in order to create
a more efficient and resilient infrastructural network.

In that context, several projects in the fields of energy, urban services, urban mobility,
territory development and security are currently under development, and there is a high
potential for climate change resilience projects development.

In the following part, we expose findings and recommendations that were formulated
after having carried out five qualitative interviews with experts in the field of climate
change adaptation and Smart Cities development. These findings and recommendations
provide insightful advices for the city of Lagos (and for emerging markets in general), to
help them implement Smart City initiatives in the most efficient and successful way.

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 Findings and recommendations from the qualitative
interviews
In the following part, we propose findings and recommendations, that have been formulated
after carrying out five qualitative interviews with experts and that answer the research question.
The findings and recommendations were validated by the support of multiple empirical
evidence, that were exposed in the academic research. The qualitative interviews provide new
information and insights, that are important and relevant for this research study. There is, as
well, a strong correlation between the findings from the qualitative research, and from the
academic research.

5.1 Findings

Finding 1 – The reasons making the development of Smart Cities relevant

In Nigeria, as in other African countries, the level of urbanization and the high pollution that is
generated through it constitute major challenges. These challenges are set to grow as a
consequence of climate change, with an increasing number of people seeking to build a life in
a more secure and adapted environment. As a consequence, infrastructural investments will
increase and these infrastructures must at the same time resist the shocks of climate change and
contribute to a more livable environment for citizens.

This is where the development of Smart City initiatives will play a role. Smart Cities will
provide citizens with a modern, connected and flexible environment, where better insights in
the way the city is managed will be provided, through data collection, analysis and use. As
such, the Smart City will provide African countries the tools to cope with growing populations,
natural catastrophes, security challenges and environmental changes linked to climate change.

The collection, analysis and use of data in order to develop smart projects (such as developing
smart transportation and smart infrastructure to decrease the level of pollution; sensors
development for the measurement of air and water pollution…) is possible in Nigeria and in
other African countries, thanks to a high level of connectivity. Indeed, more and more people
have a direct access to internet networks, through their cell phones. This high connectivity in
Nigeria and in Africa in general represents an opportunity for the development of Smart City
initiatives.

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Finding 2 – A definition of the Smart City
The components of a Smart City are the following:
- A Smart City aims to provide a more sustainable, efficient, livable and secure environment;
- A Smart City provides its citizens with the desired services in the quickest, cheapest and
most environmentally friendly way. The related services encompass water delivery, air
quality, waste management, effective transportation systems and infrastructures;
- A Smart City provides insights to better understand the functioning of the city (ex:
understanding how the citizen move around the city to better define transportation networks
development and therefore develop environmentally-friendly transportation networks);
- A Smart City is a technology planned city where data are generated, collected, analyzed
and used for an efficient and sustainable urban planning;
- A Smart City has the ability to easily change. A Smart City is flexible and therefore can
adapt to changing environmental, economic, demographical and urban patterns;
- The definition of a Smart City varies according to the countries’ level of development. In
developing countries, developing a Smart City can also mean getting the basic
infrastructures in place.

Finding 3 – The advantages of the Smart City

Developing a Smart City generates opportunities for multiple public and private entities to work
together to co-develop innovative solutions that will boost the economic, social and
environmental situation of a country. Through the collection and analysis of data, the city will
understand the issues they face in detail (air pollution, for example). This understanding will
help the city to better scope challenges and therefore to choose the most accurate solution to
solve challenges.

Along the way, the development of innovative solutions in multiple sectors (transports,
infrastructure…) will create a more livable and sustainable environment for the citizens to live
in. The different categories of residents (age group, resident physical ability, economic status)
will be taken into account when designing the city and its services. In a Smart City, the level of
security increases, which is improving living conditions for residents, tourists, businesses and
communities.

70
A Smart City constantly evolves, as new solutions can be optimized along the way thanks to a
long-term data collection process. Such a dynamic and innovative environment will greatly
attract world class talents and global investors. A dynamic circle is thus created, which
contributes positively to the country’s economy. Empowering the Nigerian coastal area through
the development of Smart City initiatives will be beneficial to its economic development.

A Smart City increases social integration and citizens’ quality of life. In Nigeria, social
integration is strengthened, with the development of new transportation networks. As a
consequence, a decreasing number of Nigerian will be left behind: everybody will have the
same chance to reach places where the economic development is good, where the education
system is well developed and where employment opportunities are present (as such, the level
of literacy is increasing).

On a broader perspective and as a result of all the previously mentioned points, a Smart City
increases citizen’s life-expectancy of citizens, through smart health and smart environment.

Finding 4 – The disadvantages of the Smart City

In Nigeria and in other emerging countries, a part of the population will not be able to fit an
increasingly advanced innovative and technological environment. In Nigeria, a part of the
population remains illiterate – which will most likely not be carried along the way. Moreover,
an increase in cyber criminality will most likely occur, as technology access will increase
among citizens.

Overpopulation is another possible disadvantage, when it comes to the development of a more

livable city. An increasing part of the population will be attracted to the smartness of the city,
which might lead to an overpopulation and thus to an increase in slums development.

Furthermore, the changes that occur in the way the city functions can create a culture shift and
can lead to protests from citizens. We can take the example of sharing cars being made available
in the city. The citizens, through an app, will be able to unlock the car and start driving around
the city. This new service can be seen as very useful for citizens, but can also create protests
from the people whose job is actually dependent on driving (ex: taxi drivers). As such, new
commercial activities will be developed through the development of Smart City projects, but
their development can also be detrimental to other economic activities.
71
Finding 5 – The stakeholders
The stakeholders related to Smart City projects are:
- The country’s governmental body;
- Local and international solution-providers (private companies);
- Citizens;
- Academics, universities, researchers.

As for stakeholder’s involvement, public-private-partnerships should be strengthened in

Nigeria.

Finding 6 - The Smart City challenges

Challenges – Finding1: Smart City initiatives are not prioritized by governments.
Even if the concept of smart city gains ground, it remains new, and unclear. In that sense, the
development of smart city projects isn’t prioritized by governments. This is even more the case
in Africa, where countries remain on their first stages of development. In Nigeria, the
development of Smart City initiatives as a way to manage the rapid urbanization and to counter
the negative effects of climate change has not been considered as a priority on the governmental
agenda, and the projects that are being developed are mainly managed by private entities.

Furthermore, the State grants infrastructure authorizations but remains poorly involved in the
urban planning and in the project financing. With an increased ownership of the city challenges
and an increase in Nigerian State commitment in the development of projects, the Smart City
of Lagos would be developed in a faster and thus more effective way.

Challenges - Finding 2: A poor understanding of city challenges.

The efficient implementation of smart city projects is undermined due to a poor understanding
of the city challenges. Because problems are not defined at the right level, the most accurate
solutions cannot be effectively chosen. The city challenges are not effectively understood
because decision-makers do not exchange with the actors that are first concerned by the
problems (“problem-owners).

72
On a citizen perspective, issues related to climate change, urbanization and potential solutions
to tackle these issues such as Smart City development remain poorly assimilated. This is the
case in Nigeria.

Challenges - Finding 3: A unclear cost business model.

In Nigeria and in most emerging countries, the costs related to the development of smart
solutions, which are high, undermine the development of Smart City initiatives. The Nigerian
State currently does not provide sufficient financial means to support the development of Lagos
Smart City.

The poor involvement of the State is linked to the lack of definition of a clear cost business
model. It can also be explained by objectives and interests’ misalignments. Indeed, when
different entities work together to develop a project, the project should serve, the best possible
way, the interests of each stakeholder. The project development must create a win-win situation
for the parties.

Challenges – Finding 4: A lack of understanding of challenges related to climate change

negative impact and Smart City development among citizens.
Among Nigerian citizens, there is lack of understanding of the challenges related to climate
change negative impacts. There is also a lack of understanding of the stakes related to Nigeria’s
rapid urbanization. The Nigerian citizens do not have a clear understanding of the way Smart
City initiatives could bring positive outcomes, in order to tackle these two challenges.

Challenges – Finding 5: A insufficient collaboration between Nigerian stakeholders and

international entities specialized in challenges scoping and solutions-providers
The collaboration between Nigeria and international entities specialized in challenges scoping
and solutions-providing is lacking. Nigeria has collaborated with Dubai for the development of
Lagos Smart City, but it is for now the only existing international collaboration that has been
detected. An insufficient international collaboration constitutes a challenge for the effective
development of Lagos Smart City.

For smart initiatives to be implemented efficiently, it is crucial to foster collaboration between

the public and private sectors, both locally and internationally, and to engage citizens in the use
of a democratized, transparent and useful data (through open data or mobile apps, for example).

73
Challenges - Finding 6: An insufficient international investment in Nigeria, that undermines
the effective development of Lagos Smart City.
Because of corruption risks, political risks, legal risks and macroeconomic risks, the
development of large-scale infrastructure projects remains considered as risky in developing
countries, which undermines the development of Smart City initiatives. This is the case in
Nigeria, where mismanagement of funds at every stakeholder level remains important. Fearing
that the transaction costs will be high (due to an insufficient revenue), international investments
remain poor in the country.

Nigeria has been ranked as one of the most corrupt nations in the world by several international
institutions such as Transparency International, with a particularly high level of corruption on
a political and bureaucratic point of view. Investors indeed consider corruption as an
unnecessary extra cost of doing business. Moreover, donor countries and foreign aid are
insufficient: donors consider it too risky to provide funds, that could possibly end up in “private
pockets”.

Furthermore, in relation to the mismanagement of funds, there is not yet existing legislation
related to fund management.

Challenges - Finding 7: An insufficient collaboration between the public sector, the private
sector, and the academics.
A more global finding of the research is that the current way companies, academics and
governmental bodies are connected is not as efficient as it could be. The connections between
these different helixes remain poor and there is a need for them to improve their collaboration
in order to run projects efficiently.

Furthermore, Smart City projects remain poorly cross-sectorial. Major investments are mostly
made in order to tackle a challenge related to one particular sector. In that sense, the chosen
solution does not integrate other sectors and challenges related to other sectors will require new
investments and thus more resources and time. This pattern decreases the efficiency projects
are being implemented.

There is no existing common governmental budget when it comes to the implementation of

Smart City projects development. Governments remain organized with entities being in charge
74
of particular sectors (education, environment, infrastructure…) and have their own budget
related to project development. This lack of common budget undermines the effectiveness of
Smart City project development.

In emerging markets, the cross-sectorial collaboration is hard to be implemented: each city

departments focus on budget-related questions, which make them less inclined to work
together.

There is a lack in terms of definition of a communication strategy.

Challenges - Finding 8: The difficulty to develop large-scale projects.

A more global finding of the research is that international companies first focus in the
development of projects in specific city districts and move forward to other parts of the city as
a second step. The overall disorganization and mismanagement of the city increases the
difficulty for them to directly develop large-scale projects, which would englobe the entire city
network. This pattern undermines social inclusion.

5.2 Recommendations

In this part of the thesis, we present recommendations in relation to the findings

previously stated. These recommendations can be used for further research on the topic of Smart
Cities, as a leverage to the negative effects of climate change. As we conducted our research on
the Nigerian Smart City, we formulated recommendations for this particular case. Nevertheless,
the recommendations that are formulated in this section can be studied by a larger audience:

- Emerging countries considering developing Smart City initiatives;

- Developed countries considering developing Smart City initiatives;
- Emerging and developed countries currently developing Smart City initiatives.

Indeed, the following formulated recommendations are designed to be used as best-practices,

to improve the efficiency of Smart Cities development.

By answering the research question, the following recommendations serve as a conclusion for
the research study.

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Recommendation 1: Make Smart City development a priority for Nigeria, by increasing the
knowledge of Nigerian stakeholders in the fields of climate change and Smart Cities
In relation to finding 6 –Challenges 1 and 2: the development of Smart City initiatives remains
poorly considered as a priority, and the challenges remain poorly understood.

In Nigeria, Smart City initiatives are mainly driven by private entities, with little support from
the State. The development of Smart City initiatives indeed remains poorly considered as a
priority for the Nigerian State.

In relation to this finding, this research study recommends to the Nigerian government, to
Nigerian companies and to Nigerian citizens to gain comprehensive knowledge on the topic of
climate change challenges and to gain an understanding of the best practices that need to be
developed in order to tackle these challenges effectively.

The education of these parties will be developed by attending and participating actively in
international negotiation rounds, seminars, workshops, webinars, conferences, match-making
missions, fairs, trainings, and so on. We therefore recommend the Nigerian stakeholders to gain
as much knowledge as possible related to the topic of climate change negative impacts, and
related to the development of Smart Cities to leverage these negative impacts, by attending
regional and international events on these topics.

By attending local, regional and international events, the parties will have the opportunity to be
in direct contact with experts focusing on these themes, will have the chance to discuss with
other city representatives facing similar issues (problem-owners) and will have a direct access
to networking, with potential solution-providers and problem-owners.

In that sense, they will have the chance to better understand the stakes related to climate change
and Smart City development. By understanding the core problems, the parties will more likely
chose the right solutions. The Nigerian stakeholders could attend the following events:

Global Digital Forum 04/09/2019 in California, United States

Smart City Expo Atlanta 11/09/2019 in Atlanta, United States
Smart City Solutions 17/09/2019 in Stuttgart, Germany

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 Nordic Edge expo and conference 2019 24/09/2019 in Stavanger, Norway
Smart Urbanation 2019 24-25/09 2019 in Bengaluru, India
Smart Country Convention 22/10/2019 in Berlin, Germany
DX Summit 22/10/2019 in London, United Kingdom
Future Smart Cities 05/11/2019 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Smart City Expo World Congress 19/11/2010 in Barcelona, Spain
BIM World Munich 26/11/2019 in Munich, Germany
African Technology Show 16/12/2019 in Casablanca, Morocco

Recommendation 2: Developing a business model and foster the stakeholders’ interest

alignment
In relation to finding 6 –Challenge 3: The poor involvement of the State is linked to the lack of
definition of a clear cost business model. It can also be explained by objectives and interests’
misalignments.

In relation to this finding, this research study recommends to Nigeria, and other emerging
countries aiming to implement Smart City initiatives to develop a strong business model. In the
business model, a specific financing model should be developed regarding the development of
Smart City projects. The city of Lagos will seek a long-term financing pattern for their projects
to run efficiently. This long-term financing plan should be developed thanks to a long-term
business case and financial model from day one.

The business model should:

- define the entity assuming the risks associated to the development of infrastructure projects;
- define which entity will invest in the project’s development;
- define which entity will pay for the associated services linked to the development of the
infrastructure projects;
- define which entity will gain return on investment.

For example, in projects being developed in the field of car sharing:

- companies provide the city with cars;
- companies get money out of it by making the users pay for the related services linked to the
use of these cars.

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In a similar case, when a project is developed in the field of IoT, data are being collected,
analyzed and used for several purposes. It is first step to clearly define which entity owns the
data, and who will gain from using them.

Furthermore, while public-private-partnerships are increasingly being developed, public and

private sectors do not share the same expectations: there is a misalignment in the objectives and
in the interests.

While most cities expect companies to deliver their solutions for a small amount of money,
considering that a space is created for them to test their solutions, companies are not easily
willing to give their solutions away, and primarily consider economic growth. Companies
providing their solutions expect their solutions to be scaled and bought, at the highest possible
cost.

In order to develop a strong business model, the city of Lagos should engage in the following
steps, in the following order:
- Firstly, understand the project and its value;
- Secondly, consider funding and finance options;
- Finally, determine relevant procurement and delivery methods.

While developing the business model, there should be a clear understanding of the project:
- overall value potentially generated;
- technology risk;
- potential cash flows;
- fair share that can be captured.

Carrying research on these points will help developing a clear revenue model, which will help
determining which value will be captured out of the project (and by which stakeholders). The
financing and funding options, as well as the procurement structures should be considered after
having clearly understood these points.

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 Business Model example - Water delivery in African countries, Grundfos
business model

Since 2016, the Danish company Grundfos has partnered with the international NGO
World Vision to provide clear water to 2 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa by
2020. In October 2018, the partnership had already successfully provided clear water
to 800,000 people.

World Vision mobilizes communities and installs a Grundfos pump and solar-powered
water ATM specifically designed for low-resource settings.

World Vision works on the mobilization and installation of Grundfos water pumps and
solar-powered water ATM. Thanks to an app, local communities pay a low price for a
direct access to clear water (through the water ATM). The business model followed
by Grundfos was the following:
- The company provided the equipment at a lower cost than usual, to enter Sub-
Saharan markets with low financial resources
- The company created a service-based model, generating revenue through the
app (used by end-users to be provided with clear water)

To conclude, the first main objective for the development of a strong business model is to
determine the most appropriate revenue model. If corporate bodies have a good bargain, they
will be encouraged to work together with other stakeholders such as universities, organizations,
institutions and governmental bodies to implement projects in the field of Smart Cities.

The overall financing and funding options have been described in the research review and must
be studied as a second step.

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Recommendation 3: Raising awareness in the community and theme integration through the
education system
In relation to finding 6 – Challenge 4: The poor understanding among citizens of the negative
impacts of climate; of the challenges related to urbanization; and of the importance of
developing Smart City initiative to tackle these challenges.

In relation to this finding, this research study recommends to strengthen the awareness of the
Nigerian citizens in relation to the reasons behind the development of Lagos Smart City a
relevant and needed case. As such, Nigerian citizens should be aware of the following:
- Why it is relevant and important to develop Smart City initiatives in today’s context;
- How the development of smart solutions can provide them with a more livable and
sustainable economic, ecologic and social environment;
- What are the investments that have already been made, what future investments will be
made, and what outcomes have been brought by the projects;
- How can they take part to the development of Smart City initiatives – as citizens also have
a role to play in the development and integration of Smart City solutions.

In order to better educate the populations about the needs linked to the development of Smart
City initiatives, lectures, conferences, workshops, but also communication campaigns should
be developed. If the city is changing, the mind of the citizens living in Lagos will need to
change alongside. By better understanding the context, needs and outcomes of the projects
being implemented, the infrastructures and facilities may be better integrated, taken care of and
protected. The involvement of the communities will, as a consequence, also increase.

Over the past years, Lagos has developed several events aiming to foster solutions development
and networking among local startups related to the development of Lagos Smart City. We
suggest to the city of Lagos to further develop the organization of such events, by including
citizens’ participation, and by creating events specifically intended for them. During the events
(conferences, lectures, workshops…), the following topics could be discussed:
- Climate change impacts;
- Climate change vulnerability;
- Climate change adaptability;

80
- The topic of Smart City: what is it? How does it work? How would it help to face climate
change negative impacts? How will the Smart City create a more livable environment for
the citizens?;
- Presenting recent projects being developed by the Lagos Smart City, and the outcomes of
the projects.

Furthermore, from the analysis of the qualitative interviews that were carried out during this
research study, it was underlined that educating the citizens on these topics at school, from a
younger age but also all along the educational train was of very high importance. Educating the
younger generations on climate change issues means creating a future where actions are most
likely to be taken, in favor of a sustainable development.

As underlined by Ayansina Ayanlade and Margaret Olusolape Jegede (2016)66, the introduction
of climate change studies during the educational trail has a fundamental role in helping the
general public, especially the next generations, to recognize the global challenges of climate
change and to find ways of adapting to the changing climate.

Ayansina Ayanlade and Margaret Olusolape Jegede (2016) carried out a research about the
awareness and perception of university graduates of climate change and its potential impacts
on some sectors in Nigeria, and concluded the following:
- there is a need for the introduction of climate change studies as a required course in Nigerian
universities has a fundamental role in helping the general public better understand climate
change risks and impacts on a local and global scale;
- there is a need for intensive teaching on key lessons on climate change issues, such as the
greenhouse effect, global warming, and weather-related disasters;
- there is a need for key lessons on climate change issues to be taught in the form of an
interdisciplinary approach, since climate change might affect nearly all sectors of human
activities;
- there is a need for tertiary education institutions in Nigeria to contribute to the improvement
of the educator content knowledge and in increasing climate change literacy of its own
graduates, by addressing the need for curriculum reform, to change from traditionally

66 Ayansina Ayanlade, Margaret Olusolape Jegede (2015). Climate change education and knowledge among
Nigerian University Graduates

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 emphasized credits in art and natural sciences to those in the earth and environmental
sciences.

Finally, when it comes to citizen awareness on specific Smart City initiatives such as the
development of apps using shared data, there is a real need for them to understand why these
data are important to collect, and what end-goal is aimed through data collection.

For example, if sharing cars are made available in the city of Lagos, combining an app which
can be used by citizens to unlock the car, it can be seen as very useful for citizens, but it can
also create some protests from the people which job is actually dependent on driving (taxis).

Some activities will be developed through the development of Smart City projects, but they can
also be detrimental to other sectors, and the end-goal of the Smart City initiative has to be
presented further ahead of its implementation, for a better understanding and assimilation of
the citizens.

Recommendation 4: Foster collaboration with entities specialized in Climate Change

adaptation and Smart City development
In relation to finding 6 – Challenge 5: an insufficient collaboration with international entities
for the development of Lagos Smart City.

In relation to this finding, this research study recommends to Nigerian stakeholders involved in
the development of Lagos Smart City to collaborate as much as possible with local, regional
and international entities specialized in climate change adaptation and Smart City development
such as NGOs and clusters: to share and receive the best-practices that will, once understood,
will help them to further develop their projects in an efficient way.

Many organizations worldwide are committed to join forces in order to provide international
platforms useful to develop large-scale projects. By developing close collaboration with
African countries facing similar challenges, Nigeria would be in a better position to tackle
efficiently the negative impacts of climate change.

Developing joint-collaboration on a regional and international scale will help Nigeria to:
- Define clearly the problem they face in relation to climate change;
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- Define clearly the solutions that could be developed to tackle these problems;
- Share knowledge and expertise in different areas related to climate change solutions;
- Gain influence on an international scale to better access funding;
- Create an open-source agenda giving countries access to different solution providers.

An important number of collaborative networks are being developed around the World, in order
to better engage in the implementation of sustainable solutions. C40 Cities is an interesting
example of collaborative network. As described on the C40 Cities website67, C40 cities
networks connect city practitioners and Mayors around the world to enable stronger collective
climate action. Through C40 networks, city practitioners from around the world advise and
learn from one another about the successes and challenges of implementing climate action.
Network interactions and C40 communications provide a platform for cities to showcase their
climate action solutions and inspire their city peers. C40 networks also help cities engage with
technical experts and undertake collective actions that demonstrate the power of cities working
together.

Lagos has developed a partnership with C40 Cities, in the field of waste management, with
successful outcomes, that can be further studied in this article:
https://www.c40.org/case_studies/c40-good-practice-guides-lagos-private-sector-participation

The recommendation for the city of Lagos is to further collaborate with C40 Cities, by engaging
in the process of Regional Hub development. By engaging in this process, the city of Lagos
would have the opportunity to expand its network through deeper collaboration with other cities
facing similar challenges in relation to climate change, but also with leading sustainable
solution providers and local stakeholders. The C40 Cities Regional Hubs, being developed in
collaboration with the Danish cluster CLEAN68:
- Facilitate a process to develop and accelerate the deployment of innovative solutions to
climate challenges, using members of your network and beyond;

67 C40 Cities website. URL : https://www.c40.org

68
C40 City Solutions Platform – Regional Hubs, Supporting cities to advance climate action through public
private partnerships. URL: https://c40-production-
images.s3.amazonaws.com/other_uploads/images/1788_CSP_Regional_Hubs_Communication_FINAL.original.
pdf?1529056923

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- Create international visibility for their network as a front-running, change making network
which is driving the green transition;
- Provide support from a dedicated multi-sector team to drive the project development;
- Offer global thought leadership and international visibility as a global leader working with
climate solutions;
- Foster innovation through groundbreaking technologies, efficient business models, and
innovative governance approaches for urban development;
- Disseminate successful solutions and methodologies across the network of C40 cities and
beyond.

On the African continent, some organizations have already started engaging in the development
of an African Regional Hub, together with C40 Cities and CLEAN. When it will be established,
this Regional Hub will be the first of its kind on the African continent.

It is recommended for Lagos city to engage in a discussion with C40 Cities and CLEAN, in
order to be part of this Regional Hub development, to have the opportunity to better scope the
challenges faced by the city of Lagos, to better understand the solutions that can be develop to
tackle the scoped challenge and to engage in direct partnerships with solution-providers, on a
local, regional and international scale.

Recommendation 5: Tightening rules and policies regarding the utilization of funds

In relation to finding 6 – Challenge 6: an important mismanagement of funds, detrimental to
the effective development of Lagos Smart City.

As presented in the literature review, there is a considerable amount of options available

regarding financing and funding. IDOs (particularly multilateral development banks,
development finance institutions, and bilateral donors) can support private infrastructure
investment in Lagos and in developing economies at large, through both offering their own
equity finance to projects and mobilizing private capital investments that leverage their own
financing products. Nevertheless, the level of funds mismanagement remains high in Nigeria,
which undermines the effective projects development.

In relation to this finding, this research study recommends to funding organizations to set
stricter rules and policies regarding the funds utilization, to ensure an effective project delivery.
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Legally binding contracts between funds providers and funds recipients could be developed,
defining some specific goals to be reached within a timeline. Moreover, by driving controls
during the project development, bureaucracy and funds mismanagement could be undermined.

Recommendation 6: Improve cross-sectorial collaboration

In relation to finding 6 – Challenge 7: a lack of cross-sectorial collaboration

In relation to this finding, this research study recommends to the Nigerian government to
promote cross-sectorial collaborations. Through the collaborative process, the government
should engage in providing guidelines and financial support. It is recommended that the
challenge scoping, as well as the solution definition, should be defined in close collaboration
with:
- The institutions (C40 Cities and CLEAN, in that particular case) engaged in the process
- The solution-providers (companies) engaged in the process

As mentioned previously, it is indeed recommended to develop as much collaboration as

possible with external stakeholders, to better understand the stakes of the climate change
challenges faced by the city.

This research study also recommends that companies (local, regional or international) being
involved in the development of solutions should consider engaging partnerships with other
companies, that might first have been considered as competitors. Indeed, the successful
development of a Smart City different requires inputs coming from a range of different
stakeholders (private, public), which itself requires the development of collaborative
approaches between competitive companies.

Finally, this research study recommends to the Nigerian government to promote cross-sectorial
collaboration within governmental ministries. Indeed, investing in solutions that tackle global
issues from different sectors is cost-saving, more efficient and provides faster results. In order
to do so, a “Smart City board” across Ministries could be implemented. The “Smart City board”
would include key stakeholders, working together to oversee, manage and coordinate the
development of Smart City initiatives. That way, Smart City initiatives are likely to gain ground
and to be part of the city management strategies.

85
The creation of a “Smart City board” would foster the transversal collaboration between the
government’s ministries (which have a focus on environmental or transportation sectors for
example), by providing a working framework where:

- Representatives from each Ministry would work together on the definition and scoping of
cross-sectorial city challenges;
- Representatives from each Ministry would map potential solution-providers in order to
tackle cross-sectorial city challenges;
- Representatives from each Ministry would collaborate on the definition of the projects
implementation strategy (resources needed, goals and timeline of the projects, expected
outcomes of the projects, definition of the roles of each Ministry’s in regard to the project
development…);
- Representatives from each Ministry would exchange about the best-practices that have to
be taken into account for an effective project development.

In such a “Smart City board”, it would be advised to hire a politically neutral external
consultant. By hiring an external consultant, the government representatives would have the
opportunity to gain knowledge, as well as an understanding of the best-practices that should be
taken into account, which would most likely lead to a successful project development.

Furthermore, this research study recommends the creation of a common budget in regards to
the development of Smart City projects. Thanks to a common budget, that could be defined by
the “Smart City board”, funds would be allocated to cross-sectorial projects. For example,
common funds could be used for the development of smart transportation systems.

Finally, this research study recommends an empowerment of the city’s communication

department. The public sector has a role to play in promoting new ways of consuming,
commuting and behaving, following a more sustainable approach. For example, if a city hall is
willing to promote a new way of commuting: common transportation networks, cycling, car-
sharing etc., a strong communication message should be relayed towards the citizens.
Nowadays, in every country worldwide, cars commercials are massively present. If no
alternative is presented on the communication scene, citizens will be most likely to continue
buying cars, and won’t consider other means of transportation. This example was taken in the
field of transportation, but this recommendation is relevant for any other sector (energy
consumption, waste generation…).

86
5.3 For further research

The goal of this master research is for the reader to understand how climate change negatively
impacts the economic, ecologic and social development of emerging markets. This master
research also underlines that developing Smart City initiatives brings positive outcomes to the
economic, ecologic and social development of developing countries.

Indeed, developing countries such as Nigeria are currently facing a phase of rapid urbanization,
and already benefit from a great, expanding access to the internet, which provides them with
access to data. By collecting, analyzing and using these data, Smart City solutions can be
developed, which end-goal is to improve the sustainable development of cities. In a connected
city, the quality of life of its citizens is improved, thanks to a better understanding of the city’s
overall organization, a better access to city services and thanks to an improvement of the city
security.

The qualitative interviews that have been carried out with Smart City experts in the framework
of this master research provide the reader with a number of advices that aim to ease the Smart
City implementation process. The findings and recommendations that have been collected and
analyzed thanks to the qualitative interviews confirm the accuracy of the findings collected
through the academic research, but also add value to the academic research, by proposing new
thinking perspectives on the topic of Smart City development.

As such, this master research is aimed towards entities that are keen to gain an overall
understanding of:
- The way climate change negatively impacts the economic, ecologic and social development
of emerging countries;
- The way Smart City initiatives could help emerging countries to face these negative impacts
and, at the same time, ensure a sustainable economic, ecologic and social development.

This master research does not cover technical aspects linked to the implementation of a Smart
City, but rather proposes an overall explanation of Smart City development to the reader. This
master research aims to be a reflective framework, that should be utilized as an inspiration tool,
which brings an overall understanding of the concept of Smart City. In that sense, this master
research can be utilized by different stakeholders to initiate brainstorming sessions around the
87
topic of Smart City development. Above all, this master research aims to ease the Smart City
implementation process, thanks to the formulation of advice and recommendations, that have
been proposed by Smart City experts.

For the reader to further explore the concept of Smart Cities, it would be recommended to carry
out an investigation on the technical aspects related to Smart City development, and to engage
with external consultants specialized in that field. We would also advice to the reader to study
the following report “Smart Sustainable Cities: A Blueprint for Africa (2017)”.

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Adaptation to climate change in the developing world, Progress in Development Studies 3,3
(2003) pp. 179–195

O'Brien, Karen & Leichenko, Robin. (2000). Double Exposure: Assessing the Impacts of
Climate Change Within the Context of Economic Globalization. Global Environmental
Change, 3. 10. 221 - 232. 10.1016/S0959-3780(00)00021-2.

Business Insider (2013). The Economist Who Invented The BRICs Just Invented A Whole New
Group Of Countries: The MINTs. URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/jim-oneill-presents-
the-mint-economies-2013-11?r=US&IR=T

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Olusogo Olamide Ogunleye, Oluwarotimi Ayokunnu Owolab, Muazu Mubarak (2018).
Population Growth and Economic Growth in Nigeria: An Appraisal. International Journal of
Management, Accounting and Economics, Vol. 5, No. 5, ISSN 2383-2126, 282-299

Andrew S. Nevin, Omosomi Omomia (2019). Nigeria Economic Outlook, Top 10 themes for
2019, PWC Economic Outlook Report

Business France Nigeria (2019). Le marché de la ville durable au Nigéria, édition 2019

Daniel Egiegba Agbiboa (2012). Between Corruption and Development: The Political
Economy of State Robbery in Nigeria, J Bus Ethics 108:325–345 DOI 10.1007/s10551-011-
1093-5, 325-245

Mira Slavova, Ekene Okwechime (2016). African Smart Cities Strategies for Agenda 2063,
Africa Journal of Management, 2:2, DOI: 10.1080/23322373.2016.1175266, 210-229

Akujobi Chiedoziem Theophilus (2017). Role of smart city in sustainable urban development
in Nigeria, Conference paper.

Khadijat Nda Yakubu (2018). Prospects and Challenges of Smart City Development in Nigeria,
Conference Paper

Rafiq Raji (2018). Smart Lagos: Status, Prospects and Opportunities, Business Day Review,
NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies,

Sara Turner, Jakkie Cilliers and Barry Hughes (2015). Reasonable goals for reducing poverty
in Africa, Targets for the post-2015 MDGs and Agenda 2063

C40 Cities website. URL : https://www.c40.org

C40 City Solutions Platform – Regional Hubs, Supporting cities to advance climate action
through public private partnerships. URL: https://c40-production-
images.s3.amazonaws.com/other_uploads/images/1788_CSP_Regional_Hubs_Communicatio
n_FINAL.original.pdf?1529056923

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Ayansina Ayanlade, Margaret Olusolape Jegede (2015). Climate change education and
knowledge among Nigerian University Graduates

Appendix
7.1 Peter Bjørn Larsen

Peter is a well-known Smart City expert. Often asked to key note at Smart City events, Peter
comes with more than 10 years of international consultant experience from the EU
Commission, EU Parliament, OECD, Nordic Innovation Center and Danish government
institutions. His expertise is in regional innovation systems, sector competitiveness studies and
smart cities (source: LinkedIn profile)

I- Profile questions

1) SC involves many different sectors…By what means could you develop such an expertise
on the topic of Smart Cities?

I have worked in that field for 12 years. When they present me, they call me “the smart city
dinosaur”, I think that’s a good thing, I’m not sure. But you are right, working in the field of
smart city isn’t very sector or even technology specific, and that’s the kind of difficulty
encountered in that field. So talking about my own career path, I worked on the policy level. I
was a consultant and worked for projects driven by the European Commission. We asked
ourselves the question: how can technology help solve problems, and what is the European
agenda on that topic. This topic was horizontal, we worked on many different projects carried
on by many different industries, all linked to that problematic. The projects were in the fields
of: water management, waste management, traffic problems.

Everyone was asking about technology and information, as a leverage to solve problems. This
lead to the question: “where do we get information from”. And the answer was: data. To collect
the data, we could put sensors up!

When the European Commission started a new project, which was no longer called “Smart
Cities”, but “The use of technologies and data to solve issues”, they sent me around the World,

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to try and figure that out. We progressively started to see the word “Smart Cities” at national
level. For me that’s where the whole thing started.

How can you use the data and technology and the involvement of citizens, to develop innovative
solutions? This is about information gathering, that’s one part of it. The other part is around
how a city can organize itself to work across different sectors.

I was used to be a consultant for Hitachi and also worked on an international level for Hitachi
on the field of smart cities. So at Hitachi for example, we had 400 000 employees, we had 1000
companies, and started creating an horizontal board. We brainstormed together about city
challenges, private sector possible involvement, and tried to define a way for them to work
together efficiently. We put that team together and that’s what become the Smart City path. We
started to create teams with certain career paths and certain types of expertise, and then we
connected all these teams together so that the focus could be horizontal rather than vertical way
of working.

So for example, in Dublin Smart City, you have a Smart City manager, he is not an expert on
technologies, but he facilitates the process: talking to companies, to experts, to governmental
bodies, to cities… and that’s the role of a manager. You don’t have to be a data scientist, but
somebody who know how to connect the good people, and the good resources.

Then you have often had the topic of citizen engagement. Bristol is a good example on how to
involve citizen into the development of solutions. But that’s a field in itself. And then you have
the environmental part and the business case. All these fields are connected. A smart city
solution has to connect all these four levels to deliver efficient solutions.

2) What kind of missions are you currently working on, as an independent consultant?
What services do you propose and who are the entities you are working with? (website:
Smart City Insights)

As an independent consultant, I do 3 things: I do “Smart city practice”. I facilitate processes

and synergies between different government structures, through roadmaps and workshops. I do
that with cities, regions and governments. I have been an advisor for several governments. The
second part is about the data ecosystem. I had the data exchange in Copenhagen, and I worked
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with open data as well. What I do here is trying to understand how the private sector and the
public sector can exchange date in the most effective way, and then to guide them. Number
three is more about data strategy. Helping a company to use the data they have, which they
believe could be useful. I also help companies to buy data and information. This is more like a
data program function. For example, I worked for Thales in Bordeaux and I helped them to
define a strategy through which they could use the data they collect through their drones. I
helped them define who were the people who could buy these data, to quantify them, but also
to define the good reasons why institutions could buy these data (immigration issues, security
issues, predict how many boats come into a harbor, traffic management…).

II- General questions on Smart Cities

1) Why is smart city relevant now?

Now? Well I mostly think that it’s been relevant for a long time, but people simply did not
understand that before. It is important to develop Smart Cities in order to fight issues related to
climate change, and it is a way to create better insights and to find better solutions and this is
kind of the next level of understanding the society and the city. That’s a really key point, not
necessarily to control it but mainly to make better decisions. And I think that, for example, if
you look at Copenhagen, which wants to become carbon-neutral by 2050, the city is now
struggling because to solve that, complex challenges and complex solutions are involved. You
need to be cross-sectorial, you need a large number of data, and you need technology to have a
chance to make it work.

Cities will struggle if they don’t use technologies and data. They will make bad decisions. It’s
also about savings. They are more and more savings made by cities, so how do you finance
your projects? In some projects, funding is really badly used: in Canada, for example,
employees walk around the city to find out what is the level of humidity… but instead, they
could buy sensors, which cost only couple of dollars per unit… and that would be much more
efficient and less costly!

There is need because of the complexity of the problems we have, and because of the current
economic pressure.

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 2) How would you describe a Smart City?

I actually don’t work with the term that a city is “smart”, I see that as a concept and tools that
you work with to solve problems. So one is organization: you need to organize yourself
differently, horizontally with new skills, you need data and technology to understand your city,
and you can control some of the way your city works. That’s using your smart city concept to
achieve your objectives: be more sustainable, more efficient, more livable.

But one of the problem that is faced by the city is that they get the strategy: “let’s work with
Smart Concept”, “Let’s work with smart energy”, “let’s work with smart…” and I am usually
asking… “ok, but, what do you actually want to achieve? What is your goal? What is the
problem you are facing?”. Then they go back to the problem: “we want less traffic”, “we want
to create jobs”. And that’s the good path: then you can start creating a roadmap which you will
start working from, as well as processes.

So a smart city, for me, is somebody who knows how to work very efficiently with the concepts.
Dublin is a good example, the whole “Smart Dublin”, Bristol is also a good example.
Copenhagen is a relatively good example. Amsterdam. Melbourne. Helsinki… are other good
examples.

3) What are the disadvantages of a Smart City?

There are a lot of disadvantages. But mostly difficulties.

If you invest in technology and data today, most of the cities work in silos and not in the
horizontal way. For example, cities will buy solutions regarding traffic management and will
only use the solution in that sector, which in the end, is really costly. It does not make sense to
invest such a big amount of money in only one sector.

A lack of understanding on how to use the concepts: looking too much on how to organize
everything, but not actually having the structure to set things up, testing solutions but not having
sufficient budget to actually implement the solutions…

One of the problem cities have is that decisions are usually taken at pretty high political levels.
Then, projects are implemented, but there is a real lack: projects managers don’t talk to the
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problem-owners, who understand the problematics very well. This is the first service I propose:
talking to the problem-owner, to help them define the problem the right way, at the right level.
Really often, the problem has not been defined at the right level. Cities buy solutions, but
without understanding the real problem… and when you buy a solution to a problem you did
not understand… there is a high chance that you will buy the wrong solution! But it takes
resources to get to that point. That’s why you need a Smart City manager.

III- Connecting the stakeholders

1) How do Ministries get enrolled in the development of Smart Cities?

Firstly, ministries usually don’t share the same opinions regarding a same issue.

Secondly, ministries wok in silos: who is responsible for what? In countries where it works
well, they have set up some “Smart City boards” across Ministries. That’s a cross-sectorial
working group.

Thirdly, politics aren’t really naturally focused toward the development of the cities, but are
rather more focused on the private sector, and there is a lack of connections between them.

Thus, the role of the government is to provide guidelines and funding. For example, in Sweden,
there is now an organization that is called Smart Sweden. Smart Sweden is made of experts in
the field of Smart City projects and gets the support from the Swedish government on a financial
point of view. In Ireland, also, they have one Ministries related to the Public expenses, and then
you have other Ministries taking part of this project. You also have the Ireland Innovation
Funding, which is a pre-procurement process institution. It’s cross-cutting and it helps to
finance innovative solutions and to put pressure on having the cities to deliver something.
Because there are still many organizations receiving funding, but only testing solutions without
actually buying any.

So, on a national level, there should be an organization, not necessarily led by the Ministries
but funded by the Ministries. Ministries should provide guidelines to these organizations.

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 2) How do you connect Government, Academics and companies together successfully, to
develop smart cities initiatives? (The triple helix program)

For example, CLEAN and GATE 21 in Denmark are very good examples of institutions that
connect the right companies together.

The key thing is that you need to be challenged-based. You need to know which problem you
need to fix. If you can find a problem that several cities have in common, then you need to work
together to find solutions. And that’s when you start to combine different cities, institutions,
companies from different sectors… to work together on a certain problematic. So that’s when
you need someone to facilitate that process, otherwise it’s never going to happen. And that’s
the role of cluster organizations such as Smart Sweden, or Bloxhub in Copenhagen.

Creating organizations where we have many different interlocutors: companies, consultants,

professionals in very specific sectors… that is what you need to be successful.

3) The financial aspects of Smart City development

There are EU funding, national funding and regional funding. That’s mainly used for testing,
to be honest. But it is quite hard to actually evaluate the costs of climate change negative
impacts, such as flooding. But first you have to evaluate these costs, and look into the long-
terms funds that you will need to go through the problems.

There are also internal budgets in cities and investments made by companies.
The biggest challenge I see is a city has a conservative profile: if you want an IOT platform,
then that’s not a budget of traffic, or public safety or water… you actually need a little bit of
budget from each part of these different sectors. So in order to finance your IOT platform, you
should be able to pick into a common budget, that is especially put in place to develop horizontal
projects.

A common project, with a common budget for common problems.

IV- The development of Smart Cities in emerging countries

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 1) Why is it important for emerging countries to develop Smart City projects (urbanization,
first victims of climate change, poor means of protection against the negative effects of
climate change…)?

In Africa, the skill of pollution, the water waste, the pollution rate: that are the problems to
challenge. Definitely, intelligent solutions on how to understand the problem, and how to
handle these problems are very important.

Thanks to Smart City projects, you can measure a lot of things. If you implement a digital
infrastructure, there are so many things you can measure and control in many different areas.
So you start having a very good understanding of the problem. The problem today is that you
never really understand the problems in detail. You may say “Our problem is that our country
is very polluted.” “Yes, but what does that really mean? Where is it coming from?”. It is the
same with flooding. You would say “our problem is flooding”, but why really is there flooding
actually?

Some years ago, we looked at solutions in Bangladesh, and one project was about technology,
concerning flooding. And they said: “you can make a technology solution where you just take
all the water away and put it somewhere else”. But if you have water scarcity, that’s stupid to
pump the water back to the ocean. So… then you need an engineer, you needed IBM, you
needed architects as well as a platform to combine all these things together. The companies
who worked in, had so much information. So that’s another thing that we discussed. How to
manage these data.

Concerning data, everyone in Africa has a mobile phone, you can actually then understand a
lot about the living patterns, the flow patterns of the citizens. You can understand where citizens
circulate, which is a hugely important information to understand traffic management, as well
as waste management.

So I think there is a huge opportunity. And it’s not much more difficult than here. The problem
is much bigger, but I actually think that this is an opportunity because African cities don’t
necessarily have the infrastructures right now… so everything constitutes a chance to develop
smart infrastructures! In the fields of energy systems, water systems… you should create
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symbioses between different sectors. In Denmark, we have hot water pumps taken from some
industries, that can are redistributed and that can be used for a whole district. This represents
an opportunity for water management in developing countries.

2) According to you, what are the major brakes that are currently faced, undermining the
effective development of Smart City Projects in emerging countries?

Corruption is a main problem.

Also, the concept of Smart City is not really seen as a priority. It does not represent a main
focus in African countries. For example, I did another project, in Egypt, and I had to propose a
technical solution to solve a problem, but there were a lack of necessarily skills to run the
technical solution, and of skills to repair it.

That’s why there is a huge need to train the local population. Education must be a focus during
the development of Smart City projects. It is also important to educate the local government
about the reasons why the development of Smart Cities is important.

3) According to you, what are the main measures that could be taken in order to bypass
these brakes?

Educating the local population and the local governments, as we said, through workshops and
trainings… yet another interesting part is the financial model.

Company need to figure out how to run projects in a good way, because the more they solve
the city challenge, the more they earn, without having the local countries having to pay a lot for
it. Because normally, local countries will receive money from the World Bank, OECD or other
institutions and then they have around 10 million dollars for projects. But then when the 10
million dollars are spent... what happens?

That’s why you really need a sustainable model of funding. When the funding runs out: how
are you going to continue to run your projects? Countries have to seek a long-term financing
pattern for their project to run efficiently.

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You have to find a business model for your project. There needs to be a continuity in the project.
You need to find a long-term business case and financial model from day one. You have to
imagine different scenarios; in case something does not work correctly.

Also, it is important to work open-source. It’s not only about educating the locals, but about
educating companies. The companies have to be open-source. The whole open-source agenda
is really important so that you are no blocked to only one provider, that might maybe one day
not provide you anymore.

4) According to you, could the model of Lagos’ Smart City be transferred to other African
countries?

Absolutely, and for that, governments could work together. But one thing that I really like, is
the Horizon 2020 program. Through it, you can only get the funding if you have at least 3
cities, and at least 3 follower cities. So you need to find similar problems in 3 different
cities, and you need to try to find solutions and test them in these 3 cities. You also have
to follow 3 cities that are not there yet, but which need to learn about the challenge, so
that they can face the problems greatly in the future. So if Lagos is ahead of Zimbabwe,
they can look at where they are now, and help them learn.

Everything goes back to funding, in the end. The organization that delivers the funding has to
put that pressure on the potential funds recipients. And again there are several governments and
several cities involved, so there is a need to fight corruption. If you look at the SPIR program
from Enterprise Ireland and Smart Ireland: they need not only to test solutions but to implement
them and they need to follow and to be followed by other cities in order to get the findings.

Funding can put a lot of pressure. The problem with a lot of innovation research is that you
usually get a 5 years funding. But maybe after 5 years, nothing really has changed. So that is
why you need to stage your funding. You need to go into different stages, depending on the
project timeline. That’s what they do in the United States, they are quite good at that. They
stage very well their projects. I actually found out that staging projects in order to access
funding was a very important stake while I was in the United States under a mission for the
European Commission. I could thus advise the European Commission to implement such
strategy, which has been implemented well for some projects.
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You really need to do that when you plan the funding. And you need to evaluate how your
project advances along the way, on a regular basis. Sometimes funding is too easy to get, and
are not managed efficiently. That’s a problem to tackle!

7.2 Olumayowa Idakolo Adegoriola

Olumayowa is a lecturer at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. She is a dynamic HSE and Real
Estate expert with research excellence in Real Estate, Renewable Energy & Smart City.

As a lecturer and dynamic research analyst and as a real estate professional, Olumayowa
possesses the ability to combine the skills in both fields seamlessly to achieve excellence. She
is a multi-skilled real estate consultant with good all-round marketing skills and a solid
background in HSE, Real Estate Management, Renewable Energy, Smart City Development,
Disaster Management and Recovery.

Olumayowa has a passion to help African and the world at large realizing their waste to energy
potential and building sustainable communities that would adapt to global climate change.
(source: LinkedIn profile)

I- Career path

What is your current position? What is your focus area and what services do you propose to
the entities you are working with?

I am an academic lecturer at the University of Lagos, my fields are asset management and real
estate and the courses I am lecturing are not directly focusing on Smart Cities, but are closely
linked to this topic. For example, I am lecturing about projects related to smart buildings, and I
also give reviews on Lagos as a Smart City.

II- General questions on Smart Cities

1) Why is Smart City relevant now?

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Because the World we live in is experiencing a rapid urbanization. We can see here in Lagos
an increasing number of people trying to live in the city center to improve their living
conditions. So the best now would be to make cities more livable. People are seeking for a more
secure environment, were more safety is ensure and where less kills occur. There is as well a
need to connect the African cities to the other parts of the World.

2) What is a Smart City, according to you?

I would say that there are so many aspects that are englobed in the concept of Smart City… but
from my own experience, I would define a Smart City as a technologically planned city, where
things work efficiently and effectively.

3) What are the advantages of the development of a Smart City?

There are so many advantages related to the development of a Smart City. A Smart City
involved all sectors and stakeholders: the academic world, the health sector, the environment…
which are all connected to make the city more livable. The development of a Smart City boosts
the economy of the city and creates a social integration within the society. It also increases life-
expectancy of citizens, through smart health and smart environment. Finally, the people are
also more educated, through a better access to knowledge and education. As such, the level of
literacy is increasing.

4) What are the disadvantages of the development of a Smart City?

As much as it has its own advantages, the Smart City also has also its own disadvantages. Not
everybody will be able to be carried along, because many things are improving technologically,
and some people are still illiterate and might not be able to fit in, also in terms of crime rates.
The level of crime could also be increasing because more people will have access to information
(through a better access to Wi-Fi within the whole city for example) on technology and about
cyber-criminality. A risk, thus, is to experiment an increase of cyber-criminality in the coming
years. Another disadvantage of the development of a Smart City is that more and more people
will be willing to benefit from the advantages of living in a more livable city, which will create

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an overpopulation. The smartness of the City will cause overpopulation, and slums will also
come up.

5) What are the major difficulties that countries are facing while implementing Smart City
projects?

One of the major problems are corruption, access to funding, as well as a too high bureaucracy.
The human factor is really important as well. When developing a Smart City, it is important to
make sure at the same time that the infrastructures and facilities are going to be taken care of,
and protected. For this to happen, it is important for the mind of the citizen to change and
evolve, as the city transforms and evolves itself. If the new infrastructures and facilities are not
well taken care of, the investments will be a very high cost and the sustainable development of
the Smart City will be impossible… There is also a lack of technological knowledge.

Another major brake is the access to funding, which are highly needed to get access to state of
the art technologies. But corruption and social unrest are, among others, factors that can really
demotivate investors to come and invest in developing countries.

III- Connecting the stakeholders

1) What are the different stakeholders that are involved in the development of a Smart
City? According to you, which stakeholder’s participation should be strengthened?

Governments, corporate bodies, individuals and non-governmental organization are the main
stakeholders that are involved in the development of a Smart City. I think corporate bodies
should be more involved, because governments bodies need funding, and public-private-
partnerships should be strengthened.

2) How can Government, academics and companies be connected together successfully,

in order to develop efficient Smart City projects?

The academics and people in governments should meet each other more. According to me, the
current way that companies, academics and governmental bodies are connected is not the most
efficient. The private companies should detect the challenges faced by the city and then present

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it to the academic bodies that will be responsible for conducting studies and present the results
to the governmental bodies. Right now, it’s more about academics doing research on different
challenges, which results then remain on the shelves and are not used for developing solutions.
It is a way to gain time and efficiency.

IV- The development of Lagos Smart City

1) Why is it important for emerging countries, and especially for Nigeria, to develop Smart
City projects?

Nigeria is a country with very rapid urbanization, and there is a need for this densely populated
area to benefit from a livable, connected, and secure environment. Also, if we take the case of
Lagos, it is a coastal area, and as such an advantaged location. If you have a look at other coastal
areas, you will see that they usually have better economic results, because of their integration
to the world trade dynamics. In that sense, it is important to develop a better, smarter
connectivity, so that Lagos could be more integrated to the rest of the country, to the
neighboring countries and to the rest of the world. Developing a Smart City is of global
relevance for Nigeria. Empowering the Nigerian coastal system will be beneficial to its
economic development, and this can be achieved thanks to the development of smart city
projects.

2) What projects have been successfully implemented in the framework of Lagos Smart
City?

There is quite a few projects in the pipeline. A successful one was the installation of street Wi-
Fi in the city of Lagos, around two years ago. There was also the implementation of Smart
Street Lightening (light turning on and off by itself and thus using less electricity and saving
energy). A train terminal is being under construction and enables a better connecting the
different states of Nigeria – but is maybe not directly linked to Smart City project. There is still
room for improvement.

3) What future projects are expected to be implemented in the framework of Lagos Smart
City?

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The government is thinking about implementing a free trade zone, to boost the economy
between Nigeria and other countries.

4) What are the financial aspects concerning the development of Lagos Smart Cities? How
are the projects financed?

The projects developed in Nigeria are mainly developed by the implementation of public-
private partnerships.

5) According to you, what are the major brakes that are currently faced, undermining the
effective development of Lagos Smart City?

The three main brakes are:

- The access to funding
- The lack of effective policies set by the government. The government has a plan on how
to develop Lagos Smart City, but this plan is being undermined by a too high corruption and
bureaucracy.

6) According to you, what are the main measures that could be taken in order to bypass
these brakes?

First of all, the process should be more transparent. There should be more transparency in the
government and the approach should be bottom-top, and not the other way around. The citizens
themselves, hand in hand with academics, should be involved in the Smart City development
process, by pointing out which problems they can detect and find relevant, as well as companies.
Then, these inputs could be shared to the governmental bodies. If the citizens are involved since
the beginning in the deployment of a project, then they will feel more committed to use and
they will know how they can benefit from the implementation of the Smart City project, and
better use and preserve the solutions that are provided to them.

Secondly, there should be more rules and punishments from investment funds so that
governmental bodies would be more conscious and less involved in corruption activities. That
way, the funds would be used for project implementation. More control is needed.

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The citizens should be more sensitive about why it is truly important to develop a Smart City,
so that they can really back up the projects that are being implemented.

There should also be more awareness on Public-Private-Partnerships arrangements. Indeed, if

there is a good bargain for the corporate bodies, then they will be encouraged to work together
with other stakeholders such as universities, organizations, institutions and governmental
bodies to implement projects in the field of Smart Cities.

The finding investors should be encouraged to invest in the country, and for that to be possible,
they should be protected by any corruption and bureaucracy risks.

7) According to you, how could the model of Lagos’ Smart City be successfully transferred
to other African countries?

Even if the African countries are facing comparable problems (rapid urbanization, lack of
efficient connectivity…), we cannot say that Smart City projects can be “transferred”. Smart
Cities are developed upon the needs of each country. What works for Lagos may not for other
African cities, so other African countries could be inspired by some projects developed in
Lagos, but should not duplicate the exact same things.

7.3 Bjarke Kovshøj

Bjarke has more than 5 years experience working with climate change and sustainable smart
cities. He has facilitated and participated in a number of workshop on an international scale.
Bjarke is now part of the innovative Climathon team here at Climate-KIC. His passion for
tackling climate change can be traced back to his pre-professional days. Whether it has been
analyzing innovative climate solutions as part of my dissertation or as a part of a pro-bono
student consultant team at 180 Degrees Consulting, tackling climate change has always had his
interest. (source: LinkedIn profile)

I- Career path

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 1) What is your current position? What is your focus area and what services do you
propose to the entities you are working with?

I work with Climate Kic, a non-profit organization working to promote innovation around
climate solutions. The position I am currently having is a Climathon City manager, and I am
working for the Climathon program, that Climate Kic use to create an early engagement with
the community. So it’s very community-driven and it is focused on city challenges. Cities will
propose challenges and invite a local community, which can be made of students and start-ups,
which will join a Climathon to collaborate on the development of innovative solution to tackle
a defined city challenge. The services that we propose to organizations is based on hosting a
Climathon website, preparing a Climathon handbook with specific rules to follow and we also
have a strong outreach, which helps us to promote the development of Climathon. My position
helps cities and local organizers to onboard and understand how to deliver a Climathon.

2) What projects are you currently working on, in regard to the development of Lagos
Smart City?

I have been working five years at CLEAN and during the first 3 years, I have been working
only with Smart Cities projects. After that, I have been focusing on the development of
international projects, which were also focusing on Smart Cities development. I have mostly
been working on projects focusing on Denmark, but I have worked on few projects in emerging
markets. These projects were focused on city development, where obviously we can say that
the smart city and IOT has been areas of great interest.

II- General questions on Smart Cities

1) Why is Smart City relevant now?

I think Smart City is relevant because more and more people are getting digitalized. More and
more people have a direct access to the internet and engage in business activities through apps
or the internet in general. A lot of what we do, how we work, how we do business and reach
out to people is online. In a way, we already live our lives online and this means that a lot of
the services that we have in the cities, in what cities can offer and how they can be made better
to live in, will likely be using the IOT and the digitalization.
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We can also say that beforehand, Smart City was a concept that many companies considered as
an interesting business case. They were promoting themselves as Smart City companies and a
lot of cities felt that they needed to get involved in Smart Cities projects –which was a hot topic.
What was good about Smart Cities was that many projects driven by cities and companies, also
through joint collaboration were tested. Nevertheless, solutions were only tested and not
specially driven by an end-goal line. There was no specific area or challenge where they would
apply solutions linked to the Smart City concept. The solutions were not used to answer a
specific problem that needed to be tackled. In the end, we were thus collecting an important
amount of data but were not capable of using these collected data to serve a defined purpose.

Nowadays, the Smart City concept is much more mature, and the fact that more and more things
in our daily environment is being digitalized makes things more likely to change and evolve
positively. Climate challenge is for example getting worse and worse, and the development
of Smart Cities worldwide makes it possible to tackle these challenges. It is indeed a way
to better understand the way a city is organized – we can now understand how people
move around, where are pinpoints in the cities that we might not see: water pollution or
air pollution are things that we don’t see, but that we can now track and measure through
data collection.

The value of Smart City has changed and I think that emerging markets have an opportunity to
develop some of the projects that have been developed in developed countries. For that to
happen, they need to be well-equipped and also well-advised. The development of Smart Cities
in emerging market is a possible thing to happen, since everyone is now connected to the
internet. In Africa, a very large part of the population owns a cell phone.

2) What is a Smart City, according to you?

In a city, they are a lot of sectors (transport, health, energy, water, and many others). The
concept of Smart City comes across and links all these different sectors. The Smart City
understands how to use data to improve the general organization and the sustainability of a city,
with the end-goal to make it more livable. The Smart City concept is about understanding the
functioning of a city and about creating an agile environment, where all the dots are connected
to make it easier for citizen to live there. A Smart City is about optimization, connection, shared
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knowledge through data collection and analysis. In the end, you get to know more about citizens
(where are most citizens in a given time, and using these data to make it more livable for them
to live in the city).

For example, in the transportation sector, collecting data about where citizens are in an actual
time and sharing this information with them through an application can help them to better plan
their way. Knowing that there is a lot of traffic in a certain area of the city will help them better
plan their trajectory. Maybe, they will decide not to take the car, or to take another trajectory,
and this can result to less pollution.

As a city, you get more information related to pollution and climate risks. In the end, the
goal is to combining all that, but this is not an easy task because it is really hard to connect all
the stakeholders for the effective development of a Smart City.

For example, the city of Copenhagen had to change all the lightbulbs in the city. They were
thus looking for the development of LED lightbulbs. A feedback developed by Smart City
experts were that while considering opening all the lightbulbs market in Copenhagen, and
implementing LED lights, it could be interesting to consider more long-term solutions: “Why
not making room, at the same time, for installation of sensors in the lightbulbs?” These sensors
could also benefit to traffic management. But that would require that the project managers
working on the replacement of lightbulbs in the city would have to work closely with the project
managers in charge on the transportation sector. These sensors would indeed help figuring out
what is the traffic in real time, and then be used by end-users to better plan their trajectory.
That’s where they created this Copenhagen Solutions Platform, to try to bridge the gap and
improve cross-sectorial collaboration. In emerging markets, this cross-sectorial collaboration is
even more complicated to be implemented, because each city departments are really focusing
on budget-related questions, and I think that it makes them less willing to work together. In that
case, a consent is needed from a higher position person to promote collaboration.

3) What are the advantages of the development of a Smart City?

For a city, you get to know more about how the city works, and how to make it more efficient.
In the transportation sector, we all know that no one likes to be in traffic jam. So if we know as
a city how many people are driving each day at a certain period of time, this can help us planning
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infrastructure development (building a new metro line? Building a new train line? Building a
new road?). In a way, the city gets a new tool to make decisions.

You can also communicate with the citizens. Through an app, citizens can communicate on
what is to be changed in the city, and give some information on real time. This real time tracking
process enables a city to precisely define challenges.

The Smart City is an opportunity to create new solutions that can be optimized along the way,
thanks to a long-term data collection process. The project evolves thanks to an increasing
number of data being collected along the way.

4) What are the disadvantages of the development of a Smart City?

As mentioned before, there can be a difficulty to look at data, to analyze them and mostly
understand them. Understand what important information can be learned and utilized through
the data collection.

Moreover, once you start collecting and using data, people need to change the way they work.
There is a real need for people to understand why these data are important to collect, and what
end-goal is aimed through data collection. These changes in the way a city works can be seen
as a change in culture, a change in paradigm. If you put up sharing cars that are available in the
city, with an app that can be used by citizens to unlock the car, it can be seen as very useful for
citizens, but it can also create some protests from the people which job is actually dependent
on driving (taxis). Some activities will be developed through the development of Smart City
projects, but they can also be detrimental to other sectors.

In the end, you need to set up a clear process explaining why the new process that being
implemented is beneficial for the overall society and environment.

If there is a business potential, then the companies will adapt. But the city representatives do
not think that way. The city has to focus on a specific challenge that needs to be solved.

5) What are the major difficulties that countries are facing while implementing Smart City
projects?
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Sometimes you start up a project, and along the way, the business model is not well defined.
The business model, in terms of the definition of who will pay for the solution implementation,
and who will get money out of it, is really important to define as a first step. For example, the
car sharing model where companies provide the city with cars and then get money out of it by
making the users pay for the related services linked to the use of these cars can be an easy model
to implement.

If you really dive in the IOT, data collection and data analysis, you have to define who owns
the data, who will make money by using them. This whole business model is a part most cities
struggle with. The cities indeed kind of expect that companies will deliver their solutions almost
for free, because the cities give companies a room, a space to test their solutions. On the other
hand, the companies are not easily willing to give their solutions away, and of course want to
make business out of them. Companies want to make sure that the solutions would be scaled
and bought. Anywhere and anytime, companies will always be willing to make money, and
cities have to understand that better!

It is important especially because it is very hard to understand which entity and stakeholders is
bringing what value in the overall model, and who should get money back out of the value
creation. The borders are really blurry! Especially when many sectors are included.

There is so much more than just implementing a hard ware solution. Then the software is also
part of the value creation, the knowledge sharing and the continuity of the flow of data. A big
challenge is thus the definition of: who owns the data, and who gets money out of the use of
the collected data.

Moreover, in developing markets, a problem that might be faced is that international companies
will most likely first focus in the development of specific districts, and then move forward to
other parts of the city. The bad overall organization of the city indeed makes it difficult for them
to directly develop large-scale projects that would englobe the entire city network. This could
have the negative impact of dividing the city. Once a smart solution will be implemented
somewhere, the costs of living in this particular part of the city might become more expensive
(because it is made more secure and more livable to live there): then only the richest citizens
will be able to live in such areas. That could also be a brake.
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 III- The development of Smart Cities in emerging countries
1) Why is it important for emerging countries to develop Smart City projects (urbanization,
first victims of climate change, poor means of protection against the negative effects of
climate change…)?

It is important for emerging markets because they are facing challenges that are out of
proportion and out of control: they need solutions to guide them, in order not to be so badly
impacted by the negative impacts of climate change.

Emerging countries need to develop their cities, very fast, because they are facing a high
urbanization. To make the city work better, smart solutions could help. Thanks to the
development of a Smart City, they would better understand the issues they face, and have the
tools to improve all the things that they struggle with. Thanks to Smart solutions, an interesting
knowledge about their citizens would be developed and using these data would help construct
better living conditions for their citizens.

Now that other cities, especially in developed countries, have developed successful projects
related to Smart City development, it is easier for them to get an idea of what efficient solution
could be developed. Successful projects can be seen as a model, for their own projects
development. But on the other hand, solutions are also quite expensive to implement, especially
when they are really high tech. That’s where the development of a good business model comes
in. The business model for an emerging country is quite different.

We can take the example of Grundfoss, who delivered water pumps to low developed
communities in Africa to secure water access. Thanks to an app, communities could pay low
price for water and energy delivery in their area. Grundfoss, there, first provided the hardware,
and after that created a service-based model, which they would get money back out of their
water and energy delivery. I think it’s going to be more and more so: more and more large
companies are going to invest in infrastructure, and then propose a service-based engagement
from the end-users, which will provide them return on investments.

2) According to you, what are the major brakes that are currently faced, undermining the
effective development of Smart City Projects in emerging countries?
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I think that one major brake are the costs related to the development of smart solutions. The
right definition of a cost business model is quite difficult as well.

Also, a problem lies in the fact that while going to other markets, foreign companies expect
their entire solution to be bought. In the case of a developing economy, the solution might not
only be too costly, but also too complex to implement. Maybe only a part of the solution really
needs to be developed, and not the entirety of it.

Finally, it is not always very easy to do business abroad: the differences in business cultures
also have to be taken into account. Many companies still struggle understanding the local
culture of the country they go to, and the local way of doing business.

Of course, the problem of corruption is also a major brake.

3) According to you, what are the main measures that could be taken in order to bypass
these brakes?

Starting using block chain in order to bypass corruption can be a solution.

The project management process needs to be inclusive. The city on one hand is aware that a
challenge needs to be tackle, and academics and companies on the other hand would be invited
to present solutions. Together, they should define the core problems. Thus, the development of
a Smart City can start from a city level, from a company level, from an academic level or even
from a citizen level. The way it starts is not especially the most important: the most important
is to create a co-working model, where the challenges can be discussed by all these different
stakeholders. If you have a city, the ownership is important. The ownership of the city remains
important. Indeed, if you don’t get the city on your side, you won’t get the project implemented
– since they own the main part of the infrastructure (owning the roads on the transportation
sector for example).

It also needs to be very clear in the mind of companies investing in emerging markets is to
understand that they might give away their solutions for a lower price. But then again, by setting
up a new and different business model, and selling on top of their solution a service.
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 4) According to you, how could the model of Lagos’ Smart City be transferred to other
African countries?

I think that using a city network such as C40 is a very promising solution. Being part of a city
network in Africa is a good way to share the best practices. The city diplomacy should be used!

In the end, I also think that other countries around Nigeria will naturally be interested in their
model, if it is run successfully. And a natural cooperation will be implemented.

7.4 Neelabh Singh

Neelabh has over 20 years of global experience as a business development professional. His
diverse professional journey includes multi sector experience in manufacturing, energy,
environment, energy efficiency, oil and gas, and financial services. He worked mainly with
emerging markets such as Africa, Asia and South America.

Neelabh has helped organizations develop their strategy and implemented both organic and
inorganic initiatives. Prior to joining the corporate sector Neelabh served in the Indian Navy
assigned to challenging operational and staff billets. He is a graduate in Science from the Naval
Academy and has an MBA from INSEAD. (source: Quercus group webpage)

I- Career path

1) What is your current position? What is your focus area and what services do you
propose to the entities you are working with?

We are four owners, at Quercus Group, and I am one of the partners. We all have our respective
geographical markets and I am focusing on the Indian market. We also all have an expertise in
particular market areas: I am mostly involved in the urbanization agenda. My other colleagues
are involved in the agribusiness sector. Climate change is impacting urbanization, and also
agriculture. In terms of services provided to the clients, we are mostly working in three sectors:
- Agribusiness
- Urbanization

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 - Clean technologies

Within these three sectors, we provide three types of services. One service is related to
technology aggregation and technology transfer. The second service is based on capacity-
building. Capacity-building is about building the ability of decision-makers within the markets
that we are operating in to take the right technologies on board, and to have the ability to
continuously generate new ideas and new solutions rather than being dependent on the external
support. The third service line is focusing on stakeholder engagement. Stakeholder engagement
regroups citizen, project managers, city representatives… it is about facilitating the creation of
partnerships between these different actors. All these three types of services are a starting point
for then further implementing feasibility studies, which is a more technical aspect. Sometimes,
we organize workshops, citizen and stakeholder’s engagement modules.

We are mainly conducting the feasibility studies ourselves, but if we don’t have a sufficient
technological knowledge, we insource experts and associate partners on the project. We can
also create consortiums, with data analysts…

2) What projects are you currently working on, in regard to the development of Lagos
Smart City?

In India, we run a project is called « open innovation in Smart Cities ».We are currently
identifying five Indian cities, that are qualified as Smart Cities under the 100 Smart Cities
program and we work with them to identify the challenges that they are facing, in relation to
climate change effects. Each of the city has a specific issue to address and we are working on
facilitating the development of Nordic companies, which are the solution-providers. We
approach the companies in an open tender process and then we go through a qualification
process on the solutions they propose. We then facilitate the relationship building with the
Indian cities, that need their solutions to tackle their climate change issues.

The other project is quite similar, but is run by the European Union. It is called the
“International Urbanization Program”. It is between EU and India, and is focusing on twelve
Indian cities partnering with twelve European cities. We partner and use best-practices to gain
best-practices knowledge for projects development. There is initially a meeting in India, and

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another one in India. The pairs of cities that match, because they face similar challenges, partner
together. The European cities have the opportunities to bring their triple-helix collaborative
network to Indian cities. For example, if Copenhagen was part of the project, then Copenhagen
would be most likely to bring CLEAN as a leading cluster to build relationship with the Indian
cities. It brings direct expertise and knowledge to the Indian cities.

We have recently done a feasibility study in Kenya, for the entire country, to help the country
have a better access to sanitation. We are trying to map the entire country and understand how
new circuits could be opened. There might be a possibility for waste to energy projects
development there. We have an office in Nairobi, with experts that can directly go on the
ground. They can understand the cultural, social structure, political and business environment
there. Sometimes, we bring people from the outside to help us on to develop the projects on the
ground.

The other project in Africa is about sanitation and water management in Kisumu. We are
looking at the informal settlements there, where there are many slums with no infrastructures
for water. We work with local NGOs there, such as Plan International. We engage with the
local community and bring Nordic solutions that can be relevant for this challenge.

We also have a project in agriculture in Ghana. We are focusing on the Palm oil industry. Palm
oil has a bad reputation, but we are looking on how to make this sustainable. We are engaging
with the local stakeholders there to make them realize about the importance of making this
industry more sustainable.

II- General questions on Smart Cities

1) Why is Smart City relevant now?

Some of the answer on this question are redundant, so I will try to have a broader response. If
we are not smart, we will end up in a traffic jam. The system we are in will collapse. To avoid
a collapse in the future, we have to make sure that we are engaging in the development of “smart
projects”. So I think that to make sure that the people living in cities will have a good life… we
have to make it sustainable. The moment you start urbanizing an environment, it will get

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polluted and we should all be able to live in an environment that is worth living in: secure, clean
and sustainable.

If the water we drink and the food we eat is polluted, we can still decide not to consume it. But
if the air we breathe is polluted, we don`t have the change to avoid breathing it. There is no
other option. Clean air is a human right in some sense, and therefore, we should avoid pollution
as much as possible and develop relevant projects related to that challenge.

The Smart City should be economically centric as well. We have to develop equal opportunities
for everyone to grow and develop themselves in a sustainable environment.

2) What is a Smart City, according to you?

There is no precise definition of what a Smart City is, but I have a pretty clear idea of what it
should be. Today, none of us has the opportunity to figure out what the next technologies will
be. Any infrastructure and any tool that you put in a city becomes redundant quite quickly,
because the technology evolved so fast. It is the same trend for demography, and therefore
urbanization.

For me a Smart City is a city that has the ability to easily change, and where there is no bottle-
neck, especially in terms of infrastructure development. Smart Cities are about implementing
flexibility. That’s my ultimate definition of what a Smart City should be. A Smart City should
be managed as Lego bricks, where infrastructures can be further developed along the way.

A Smart City is sometimes also about getting the basic infrastructures in place. The Smart City
being developed is highly linked to the level of development of a county. A Smart City is also
a city that provides its citizen the desired service in the quickest, cheapest and environment
friendly way (water, air quality, waste, transport…).

3) What are the advantages of the development of a Smart City?

The advantages should be economic, social and environmental benefits. These all drive to a
more livable city. If we use these points as a starting point, then more investors will be attracted

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to the city, but also more talented people. This circle is really interesting for emerging markets,
because the overall economic viability of the country will be improved.

4) What are the disadvantages of the development of a Smart City?

The technology developed can also be used in a detrimental way, and create risks (security wise
for example with an increasing number of cyber-attacks).

The biggest challenge is alignment between the interests of the different stakeholders, in the
development of a Smart City. The challenge has to serve interests of each stakeholders and once
a win-win business model is implemented, then Smart City initiatives can be successfully
developed. The misalignment in the objectives and the development of a poor business model,
can be a major brake to the successful development of a Smart City.

Another disadvantage is that the citizen awareness on these topics remain quite low. The
education should come at a really early stage. For example, in India, waste management is a
major problem. Even if there is the right technology, citizens are not aware and educated on
waste management. But if you start educated the younger generation on this topic, from grade
one, then in ten years’ time you can already achieve great results. Of course, it means that the
people working in the government, who are currently in charge of the education agenda, have
to make it a priority. And… they therefore need to be educated on this topic themselves.

5) What are the major difficulties that countries are facing while implementing Smart City
projects?

Our communes should change their own structure. We cannot work anymore following the old
structure, where the different departments of the city are divided in different areas and sectors.
The cities should be organized and managed following the corporate model. It would be
interesting for the cities to have a kind of CEO, CFO… somebody who has been out there in
creating the latest available technologies and who has been a game-changer. These people, who
have been engaged in big companies, should also be included in the overall management
structure of a city, and work together with the public entities.

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I would also recommend a strong communication department in the cities. If we take the
example of BMW or Tesla, which companies have a really strong communication service,
creating the best possible commercials to make us buy their cars. If in the cities, there was such
communication services that would promote new ways of commuting – with bikes for
example… then maybe citizen will start changing their behaviors? If a city hall wants to cycle
and push the cycling agenda, they have to compete with these companies who are trying to sell
as many cars as possible. If cities don’t, then citizen will continue buying cars. Cities don’t have
the people and resources to develop such commercials…

In that sense, we need a different structure in the way cities are organized.

III- The development of Smart Cities in emerging countries

1) Why is it important for emerging countries to develop Smart City projects (urbanization,
first victims of climate change, poor means of protection against the negative effects of
climate change…)?

For the same reasons as discussed before.

2) According to you, what are the major brakes that are currently faced, undermining the
effective development of Smart City Projects in emerging countries?

There should be financial viability and sustainability in the projects, and this is maybe
something that should be better planned. A strong business model is extremely important and
fundamental in the development of a project. Building a strong vision, that can be adapted along
the way, has to be developed.

Corruption and bureaucracy are present in every country, this is not, according to me, the major
brakes. They are present… everywhere!

3) According to you, what are the main measures that could be taken in order to bypass
these brakes?

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The citizens should be more involved in the decision-making process. Not that they are making
the decisions themselves, but more in the way that decision should be citizen centric, in
whatever decision-making goes on.

I think that clusters are extremely useful and important and can drive many changes. They
should be on the front-hand to drive changes. But it is important that no political interference
should occur. These clusters have to be independent from the city hall. They should work
together with them, but they should be independent.

7.5 Maxine Pittet

Maxime Pittet is a trade advisor at Business France, Nigeria. (source: LinkedIn profile)

Business France in Lagos is the trade office of the Embassy of France in Nigeria, supporting
the international development of the French economy. Business France is responsible for
fostering export growth of French businesses, as well as promoting new partnerships between
French and Nigerian companies. Business France advises and assists French companies in their
collaboration with Nigerian businesses.

I- Career path

1) What is your current position and what projects are you currently working on, in
regards to the development of Lagos Smart City?

I am a trade adviser at Business France Nigeria. I help French companies willing to develop
business in Nigeria, to develop their activities in the country. I haven’t worked on specific
projects regarding the Lagos Smart City, but I have accompanied French companies in the
renewable and construction sectors to meet Nigerian stakeholders through B to B networking
events.

II- General questions on Smart Cities

1) What is a Smart City, according to you?

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A Smart City is a very connected city. It is a city where everything is made easier for citizen to
navigate around: a city where citizens have an easy and direct access to transportation
infrastructures (railways, tramways, bus lines). The Smart City also provides an easy access to
the energy and water networks and is built in a way that is made more environmentally friendly.

2) What are the advantages of the development of a Smart City?

I think that the main advantage of developing Smart Cities lies in the fact that it makes
everybody’s life easier, and again, that’s the case with the development of good transportation
networks. The quality of life of citizens is improved when they are able to navigate around
easily. In that sense, no communities are left behind: everybody has the same chance to reach
places where the economic development is good and where employment opportunities are
present. The Smart City boosts the integration of citizens in the economic environment.

3) What are the disadvantages of the development of a Smart City?

I don’t see any disadvantages in developing a Smart City.

III- The development of Lagos Smart City

1) Why is it important for emerging countries, and especially for Nigeria, to develop Smart
City projects?

Developing a Smart City in Nigeria positively contributes to the integration of Nigerian citizens
to the rest of the world. It is also highly needed, in the context of rapid urbanization that is
taking place in Nigeria. The population in Nigeria is set to double by 2050, and it is important
to put in place a different city management, in the fields of electricity, water, waste… a good
city management through the development of smart initiatives will make Nigerian cities a great
place to live in and to evolve in.

2) What projects have been successfully implemented in the framework of Lagos Smart
City?

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In Nigeria, there has been a lot of projects being planned to be developed, but not many have
been fully completed yet. In Nigeria, we remain quite behind the subject yet. But there has been
some positive outcomes already:

- In the transportation area, a new portion of Lagos subway has been constructed, the
railway network has been renovated across the country and bus lines have been
renovated over the years 2017 and 2018. A new harbor area is being constructed, aiming
to host businesses and to increase the development of businesses in the port area.
- In terms of connectivity, hubs have been developed. In Nigeria, you can find the
equivalent of the Silicon Valley… to a lesser extent. Tech companies are increasing
their presence in Nigeria, especially through the development of the Yabacon Valley.
Jc Decaux has been working together with Nigerian stakeholders to develop an
intelligent transport system, aiming to share information on traffic, as people navigate
around the city and the country.
- Some territories in Nigeria are being develop with the aim of being really modern and
innovative, functioning with smart water management. Following the example of the
Dubai artificial city, the Eko Atlantic City will be developed: a functional and modern
city built on the water.

These projects are on-going.

4) What are the different stakeholders that are involved in the development of a Lagos
Smart City? According to you, which stakeholder’s participation should be strengthened?

In Lagos, most projects are led by private entities with the consent of the Lagos State. The
funding of projects are mostly private. In my opinion, the Lagos State participation should be
strengthened. The State grants all construction authorizations, but in terms of funding it still
mostly comes from private entities. Since the State possesses financial resources, it should be
more involved.

5) What are the financial aspects concerning the development of Lagos Smart Cities? How
are the projects financed?

As mentioned before, the development of Lagos Smart City is essentially private.

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6) According to you, what are the major brakes that are currently faced, undermining the
effective development of Lagos Smart City?

As mentioned previously, the little involvement of the State concerning the development of
Lagos Smart City is a brake. The State should have a better involvement in the development of
infrastructures related to water delivery and waste management. It is also the case for the
development of draining systems, to tackle the problem of flooding, which becomes more and
more important in Nigeria due to climate change. The State could allocate more funds for the
development of infrastructures.

Moreover, mismanagement of funds undermines the effective development of projects. The

mismanagement of funds can be found at all stakeholder level…

7) According to you, what are the main measures that could be taken in order to bypass
these brakes?

Because the increasing involvement of the State regarding Smart City related projects might
take time to happen, I would recommend that the private sectors further develop its involvement
in projects development.

Educating the local population on questions related to climate change and to Smart City
development is also something that could be interesting. The topics of waste management and
green energy use should be discussed.

8) According to you, how could the model of Lagos’ Smart City be successfully transferred
to other African countries?

I would not say that Lagos Smart City is a model, even if the city is one of the most connected
one in Africa. Of course, the city of Lagos has developed interesting projects in the field of
transportation, which can be an inspiration for other African cities, but the projects remain on-
going, and should further be developed… and in a successful way to be considered as a
“model”.

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 I would rather say that the city of Kigali, in Rwanda, is a great inspiration for African cities.
There, the use of plastic bags has been forbidden and the city makes great efforts to become
green, smart and clean. In Lagos, important issues such as water and energy delivery, waste
management and transportation networks should be developed, with an access for all, before
starting engaging in complex projects, that aim to be innovative and smart….

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