Kisumu Governor Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o has called for a radical shift in Africa’s development model, insisting that the continent’s economic independence will be built from the ground up through empowered counties, townships and intermediary cities.
Speaking at the inaugural Africa Smart Cities and Townships Alliance (ASCA) Summit in Kisumu, Prof. Nyong’o said the time had come for local governments to take centre stage in shaping Africa’s urban renaissance.
“The future of Africa’s development is local. The future of our economic renaissance is local. The future of our economic independence and growth is local,” the Governor declared.
He noted that devolution in Kenya had already proven the value of decentralisation, ensuring that development is locally owned and driven, lauding county assemblies as pillars of representative democracy tasked with oversight and accountability.
Nyong’o described ASCA as a movement to transform African cities and townships into inclusive, digitally enabled and resilient spaces.
“As Kisumu hosts ASCA, we are not just convening a summit. We are igniting a movement to bring innovation, sustainability and dignity to Africa’s urban future,” he said.
Unlike global models that emphasis skyscrapers and high-speed transport, he argued, Africa’s reality, he said, demands solutions tailored to informal settlements, peri-urban communities and township economies.
“Six out of ten urban dwellers in Africa live in informal settlements. Any smart city strategy we adopt must be inclusive and grounded in these realities,” he stressed, citing opportunities in community-driven waste recycling, solar-powered micro grids and digital platforms to unlock informal economies.
ASCA’s vision, he said, must rest on five pillars: investment in affordable digital infrastructure; creation of innovation hubs to nurture local entrepreneurship; capacity building for municipalities; supportive policy frameworks; and robust public-private partnerships.
He challenged policymakers, investors and urban planners to use technology as a tool for solving real problems from waste management and housing to energy and transport rather than chasing foreign models.
“The goal is not to replicate Abu Dhabi or Singapore. It is to build African models of smart urban development that work for our people, our economies and our cultures,” he said.
Looking beyond Kisumu, the Governor urged ASCA to forge a strategic alliance with the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA), a continental body with long experience lobbying for decentralisation and resource mobilisation.
He argued that merging UCLGA’s institutional weight with ASCA’s grassroots, citizen-focused networks would create a powerful voice for Africa’s cities on the global stage.
“Imagine combining UCLGA’s powerful advocacy machinery with ASCA’s vibrant, people-focused network. Instead of two voices, we will have a single chorus impossible to ignore,” he said.
Such a partnership, he said, would empower local governments financially and politically, ensure innovative solutions are scaled across the continent, and make African cities more attractive to international development partners.
By Chris Mahandara
