SMART VILLAGES

The fate of Africa is decided by the majority of the population living in non-metropolitan areas, i.e. in communities (villages and towns ) with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants. In the UN World Population Prospects 2019, it states that this concerns 90.9 % of Africa’s population It can be assumed that by around 2050 at least 70 % of the population will live and will continue to live in  non-metropolitan areas.

In smaller communities the economies of scale of the modern global economy do not apply. But: A self-sustaining economic system needs functioning infrastructure (clean water and sewage, for waste disposal and recycling, for electricity and digital communication), otherwise the well-educated young elite will continue to migrate to the centres.

For this reason, too, the development of common infrastructural property through cooperatives for the construction and operation of infrastructure must be placed in the hands of women in particular.

The neglect of the mental and socio-cultural dimension is the Achilles heel of our society. Technical investments must first be mentally recognised by the community as their own. Only then can they be installed and operated sustainably.

The economic logic of smart villages requires a technology that aims for durability through reparability. In contrast to traditional economic logic, which generates profits by incentivising the purchase of the same, but constantly technologically refined product, the economics of smart villages is based on economies of scale through infrastructure technologies that are easy to repair and can therefore be used over the long term.