Smart Resilient City and IoT Towards Sustainability of Africa

Cities of the future will be increasingly populated but still are not smart or energetically ready and cities must be planned and built only on the basis of algorithms, but should be a dynamic entity, resilient and sustainable. Africa's urban population is growing much faster than in Europe and is expected to surpass the rural population by 2050, when city will increase to 62% [1] and even today about 30% of citizens have no access to electricity or heating fuels. [2] The new global sustainable development goals has set as a target [3] universal access to affordable, reliable energy, and sustainable for 2030 [4]. In the implementation of Smart Cities, Africa must not be left behind: promote fair, resilient and sustainable energy systems, responsible energy industries and access for the poor to clean energy, efficient and affordable services, must be a priority also for the European Community. Access to green energy and electricity, is crucial for reducing poverty and driving sustainable economic development, it is necessary an innovative and long-term sustainable approach to design energy services to meet the needs of people living in energy poverty and not only. Africa will be “the next big market” due to the rapid growth of emerging economies. Smart cities in Africa will be a challenge for the energy supply, use of renewable sources, a better quality of life, reduced energy consumption, less environmental impact. The key elements to achieve sustainability in developing countries will be the introduction of smart grids, smart metering, the Internet of Things (IoT), dissemination of information and communication technology (ICT): a new vision in which the citizen becomes a hub, being both consumer and producer of green energy, renewable energy spread widely in the area (solar, hydro, wind), through integration in smart grid. This paper aims to be a starting point for decision makers and for future research, highlighting how the Smart City, pose greater opportunity for developing countries like Africa, through new technologies already widely spread on the territory, jointly with the redistribution and efficient use of alternative energy sources.