Safe and Smart Cities 6 SAFE AND SMART CITIES 6.1  CHINESE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES IN AFRICA Chinese firms such as Huawei Technologies, ZTE, and China Telecom have been instrumental in building and upgrading telecoms infrastructure, from internet back­bone networks to last-mile solutions. Their infrastruc­ture investments and affordable yet effective equip­ment and products have enabled Africa’s mobile telecoms revolution. (Motolani Agbebi, 2022) The presence of Chinese digital technology companies on the African continent is often linked to the BRI and the Dig­ital Silk Road(DSR). However, China’s engagement predates the DSR by decades. The advance of Chinese firms began after 1999 when Huawei constructed a cellular network in Kenya. Ethiopia followed one year later. 233 This was part of China’s“going global” policy, launched to access new mar­kets and to create demand for Chinese supplies. In Africa, this push coincided with a telecommunications revolution, when many African countries began to liberalise their tele­communications sectors and upgrade their infrastructure. 234 After Xi Jinping launched the BRI, many older projects were simply rebranded to be a part of the DSR. 235 Chinese digital exports today are numerous, comprising, but not limited to: Telecom network infrastructures; surveillance; smart city in­frastructures; data centres; digital partnerships with higher education institutions; R&D and innovation labs; and capac­ity development. Chinese telecommunication giants Huawei and ZTE have built nearly 80 per cent of Africa’s third-generation(3G) net­work infrastructure, while Huawei has built 70 per cent of all fourth-generation(4G) networks and is competing to build 233 J. E.(2021) The Digital Silk Road: China’s Quest to Wire the World and Win the Future. New York: Harper Business, 71. 234 M.(2022). China’s Digital Silk Road and Africa’s Technolog­ical Future. Council on Foreign Relations, 1 February, 1–2. https:// www.cfr.org/sites/default/files/pdf/Chinas%20Digital%20Silk%20 Road%20and%20Africas%20Technological%20Future_FINAL.pdf 235 hiasy, R.& Krishnamurthy, R.(2020). China’s Digital Silk Road: Stra­tegic Implications for the EU and India. Leiden Asia Centre, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies. Special Report, 208. http://ipcs.org/issue_ briefs/issue_brief_pdf/sr208_august2020_china%E2%80%99s%20 digital%20silk%20road-strategic%20implications%20for%20 the%20eu%20and%20india_final.pdf all future 5G networks in Africa. 236 Shenzhen-based mo­bile-phone maker Transsion Holdings controls 64 per cent of Africa’s feature phone market and more than 40 per cent of its smartphone market. 237 Huawei is the biggest Chinese player in Africa’s digitalisa­tion. It has equipped the majority of the communication in­frastructure at the African Union’s headquarters in Addis Ababa 238 and is advising Kenya on its information and com­munication technology masterplan. 239 As of 2021, it was in­volved in nearly half of the 266 Chinese technological initia­tives across the continent 240 , with 23 projects for e-govern­ment and cloud services. 241 Huawei has outpaced Western companies like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud in the provi­sion of data centres for African governments. Amongst oth­er projects, it’s building data centres for the governments of Senegal, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. 242 SMART CITY INITIATIVES Smart cities are broadly understood as cities that seek to ad­dress public issues by applying solutions grounded in infor­mation and communication technology(ICT). 243 Domestical­ly, China identified smart city development as a national pri­236 Tirziu, A.(2021). Partnering for Africa’s Digital Future: Oppor­tunities for the United States, South Korea, and India. Issue Brief, April, 1. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/ 04/Partnering-for-Africas-Digital-Future-April-2021.pdf 237 Ibid. 238 Ibid. 239(2019) . Seeds for the Future: Kenya. https://web.archive.org/ web/20191210073753/ 240 kwanyana, K.(2021). China’s AI Deployment in Africa Poses Risks to Security and Sovereignty. ASPI. The Strategist, 5 May. https:// www.aspistrategist.org.au/chinas-ai-deployment-in-africa-pos­es-risks-to-security-and-sovereignty/ 241 illman, J. E.& McCalpin, M.(2021). Huawei’s Global Cloud Strategy. Reconnecting Asia, 17 May. https://reconasia.csis.org/huawei-glob­al-cloud-strategy/ 242 G.(2022). How Huawei Is Winning over the Global South. Tech Monitor, 22 December. https://techmonitor.ai/future-of-tele­coms/why-huawei-is-winning-over-the-global-south; Yusuf, M. (2021). China’s Reach Into Africa’s Digital Sector Worries Experts. VOA, 22 October. https://www.voanews.com/a/china-reach-into-­africa-digital-sector-worries-experts/6281543.html 243 Commission.(n. d.). Smart Cities. https://ec.europa.eu/ info/eu-regional-and-urban-development/topics/cities-and-ur­ban-development/city-initiatives/smart-cities_en 43