BCC seeks Smart City investors Mrs Nesisa Mpofu

Nqobile Bhebhe, Senior Business Reporter

THE Bulawayo City Council is engaging potential investors to bankroll various projects under the ‘Smart City’ concept which has been endorsed by the private sector and the Government.

Bulawayo City Council (BCC)

The local authority has already developed a strategic plan to reposition itself as a ‘smart city’ destination by 2024.

Smart cities modelling thrives on increased citizen engagement and use of digital technologies among others to make councils more resilient and better able to respond to development challenges.

The Bulawayo drive is running concurrently with the Government’s cities regeneration and rehabilitation exercise.

The private sector has also joined in, focusing on raising capital to fund projects.

Under the smart city programme, BCC will be looking at projects like ICT innovation parks, the beef and leather industry, car assembly and the engineering industry.

Other projects include factory park, the pharmaceutical industry, cosmetic industry, steel fabrication, tourism and curio manufacturing, and solar engineering.

In order to attain Smart City Status by 2024, council says it is rolling out several projects that include the construction of Cowdray Park Corridor/Siyephambili Drive inter-change at a location on Siyephambili Drive that is approximately 600m north of the Emakhandeni road over rail bridge.

A smart traffic management system that involves the installation of traffic counter loops, digital cameras and CCTV cameras in the Central Business District and inter-city connectors also forms part of the planned projects.

Central Business District

BCC corporate communications manager, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu, said engagements with various potential investors have so far had little traction.

“The responses from potential investors during various investment promotion drives have been unfavourable with regards to road projects, maybe it’s due to the prevailing macro-economic environment in the country,” she said.

Asked whether the local authority has plans to install tollgates within the city, Mrs Mpofu said currently, the council was not looking in that direction.

“There are currently no plans to install tollgates within the city.

However, there are plans to install a weigh in motion system.

The weighing of trucks will prevent overweight trucks from going onto the city’s road network that cannot handle the heavy load,” she said.

“Trucks that weigh over the regulated weight limit can cause irreparable damage to road pavements and bridges.

Weighing in motion weighbridges allow a fully unattended weighing operation, which is an obvious boost to productivity.”

Mrs Mpofu said to finance interchange and approach roads, US$3,5 million was needed and a further US$5 million for street and traffic lights.

Under the Smart Traffic management system, US$2 million is required and US$4 000 000 for weighing in motion weighbridges on intercity connectors.

President Mnangagwa

President Mnangagwa has emphasised the need for the country to implement the smart city concept in line with the recently launched climate policy.

In a bid to drive the smart city momentum, DEAT Capital has said it would be hosting a one-day engagement next month under the theme: ‘Innovative financing solutions in the cities and rural communities’ ecosystem post Covid-19 pandemic’ in Harare to explore strategies for implementing the new concept. — @nqobilebhebhe

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