As global cities become more integrated with technology, new business models emerge, and cities become smarter, denser, and more connected. While most of the sub-Saharan African cities experienced a rapid global urban growth rate, there come challenges of overcrowding, infrastructure, power, poor governance and many more.
Some experts think charter cities present one of the possible solutions. According to City Journal, Romer and Brandon Fuller described how charter cities would be set up: “A host country would provide land; a source country would provide residents, and a guarantor country would provide the assurance that the new city’s charter would be respected and enforced.” These are cities where the city defines governing system rather than by local, state, or national laws.
Generally, charter cities are public-private partnerships between city developers and host countries. There are a few examples of performing charter cities globally-Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Dubai among them. However, there are some that have mostly underperformed, even here in Nigeria.
For example, Eko Atlantic, a multi billion-dollar residential and business development and the 16,500-hectare Lekki Free Trade Zone are thus far struggling to meet expectations. Infact, factors of bad governance have weighed down on the development of Lagos along with 1000 other African cities since their independence from colonialism. These include corruption, political interference, overbearing religiosity, nepotism and incompetence on the part of the state. However, Kigali in Rwanda, is an excellent African city that is well planned, maintained and meticulously well administered, to apple-pie order. More cities in Africa should be like Kigali.
It is high time to break the shackles of corruption and overbearing religiosity. We need men and women in Africa with the inner hunger or passion to go for goals that are bold, audacious and moonshot in nature.
An audacious moonshot mindset has enabled a Nigerian impact entrepreneur Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, formerly of African unicorns Andela and Flutterwave, and Luqman Edu, Chief Visionary Officer and Managing Director of Filmo Real Estate, to come up with a mind-blowing startup project – building a new city that could catalyse Africa’s digital economy. The city is called Talent City: a charter city concentrated on attracting the talents that drive technology, innovation and the digital economy. Now, we can see a new Dangote, Allen Ifechukwu Onyema, and Tony Elemelu in the making with a non-linear moonshot mindset. We need more like him to build more sustainable cities that would engender economic growth. This is audacious!
Talent City, a futuristic charter city for tech professionals is planned to be home to 1,000 residents and 2,500 remote workers. It features a central co-working campus along with a variety of housing options designed for a flexible remote-friendly lifestyle of the future. This ongoing project will still be within the jurisdiction of Nigeria’s free trade zone laws. It would enjoy a data-driven and evidence-based policies for evidence-based decision-making and be free of complex socio-political or economically destablizing considerations. Doing this will ensure the appropriate policy environment for the best African technology and innovation to emerge and flourish in this zone.
Talent City is backed by Pronomos, Charter Cities Institute, Ventures Platform, and Lofty Inc, and they plan to roll out additional model cities in Africa. The charter city will provide infrastructure for techs such as steady power and high-speed internet; promising policies that enable innovation; and a like-minded community of people who live and work in proximity to one another. Though Abodeyi said that there is a pretty broad spectrum of people who are interested in this, and I think most people, including myself, are definitely excited by his project. It’s not like things are working for everybody on the planet at the moment. I think having some people say, “let’s try something different”, shouldn’t be met with skepticism.
Let us bring back the ingenuity and level of perfection exhibited by our ancient forefathers in ancient Eqypt, Benin, Meroe and great Zimbabwe and develop a non-linear moonshot mindset by achieving things that are 1000x-100000x what we are used to.
