Business
Kenyan city of Nairobi rated Africa’s most intelligent community
A new ranking by the Intelligent Community Forum has positioned Nairobi as one of the Smart21 intelligent communities in the world for the year 2015.
The Kenyan capital is the only African city to be shortlisted in the top 21 intelligent cities list.
The forum describes an intelligent community as “those which have – whether through crisis or foresight – come to understand the enormous challenges of the broadband economy, and have taken conscious steps to create an economy capable of prospering in it.”
The ranking takes into consideration innovation, education and technology in solving problems in the community.
This is the second time that the east African city has been selected. Nairobi has fared favorably in digital inclusion, hence its placement on the list.
It should be noted Kenya has been at the lead of many innovations, including the development, deployment and use of mobile money – which the Nairobi county government has embraced, thus slashing payment inefficiencies and introducing a layer of transparency over the whole process. In addition, several innovation and incubation centers have been integrated with the city’s urban culture. These include iHub, 88MPH, and university innovation centers, which have become the breeding ground for new business ideas.
