By C, KNA
Kisumu is set to make history as the first African city to host the continent’s inaugural Smart Cities Summit, slated for September 11–13, an event expected to attract top leaders, investors, and innovators from across the globe.
Governor Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o, who chairs the African Smart Cities Caucus, said the meeting will provide a platform for Kisumu to showcase its transformation, while shaping conversations on urban development across Africa.
“This summit is about more than technology. It is about building cities that solve the problems of our time whether traffic management, regional integration, or creating new services that improve the lives of our people,” said Nyong’o.
Speaking in Kisumu during a media launch for the summit, the governor challenged participants to go beyond lofty speeches and embrace practical solutions.
“Let this not be another talk-shop where we speak good English and go home. This summit must leave us with tangible programmes that touch lives,” he said.
Citing the imminent completion of Kisumu International Airport’s new control tower, Nyong’o said direct flights between Kisumu, Mwanza, Kampala and other regional cities would soon be possible, positioning the city as a hub of connectivity across East Africa.
“Kisumu cannot remain just a training centre as it was in the past. We must now build a city that influences the growth of other towns around Lake Victoria in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and beyond,” he said.
Nyong’o said his leadership of the African Smart Cities Caucus was both a responsibility and an opportunity to ensure African cities shape their own future.
Leading preparations for the three-day event is Prof. Kama Rogo, a global health and development expert, who underscored that the summit will be a business-focused gathering designed to attract real investments.
“We are expecting delegates from Asia, America and Europe who will explore investment opportunities in Kisumu and across the Lake Region,” said Rogo.
Local investors, he added, will showcase what they produce offering a platform to create linkages and secure markets across the region and globally.
Prof. Rogo said Kisumu’s credentials made it an ideal host following the successful hosting of the Afri-Cities conference in 2022 and other high profile meetings.
“This region has 14 universities located within a radius of 100 kilometers. Kisumu is developing the most comprehensive cancer centre in the region, has the only cricket pitch in East Africa, and is a tourism gateway to the Maasai Mara and Lake Victoria.
This summit will demonstrate that Kisumu is more than a lakeside city, it is a hub for knowledge, innovation and investment,” he said.
The event organized by the Africa Smart Cities and Townships Alliance (ASCA) will draw city leaders, policy-makers, scholars, and investors from across Africa and the world.
Delegates were expected from cities around Lake Victoria including Mwanza, Bukoba, Entebbe, Jinja, Kampala, Kigali, Goma, Mbarara and Bujumbura, underscoring Kisumu’s role as the natural anchor of regional integration.
“Our task is to build cities that are not only smart, but inclusive cities that respond to people’s needs, while preparing for the challenges of tomorrow,” he said.
The summit is poised to cement the city’s rising profile as a centre of innovation and continental dialogue, while also signalling Africa’s readiness to embrace urban transformation on its own terms.