Yash Ramkolowan is Managing Director at DNA Economics. We explore key challenges and solutions to policy design and valuation, emerging disruptors and opportunities, the digital revolution, how to make cities more ‘investable’, how municipalities can stay relevant in the future, the current status of AfCFTA and much more. Visit www.futurecitiesafrica.com...
Regina Opondo is Senior Community Principal at Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) in Kenya, and part of an exciting team of urban designers and action researchers who have worked on some exciting community-driven urban interventions across Nairobi and other cities. This episode explores interesting and exciting urban interventions, like Kibera, that are happening in Kenya and revitalising green spaces in Nairobi's informal settlements.
Towards sustainable and smart mobility this episode of the MOVE Africa show is with Sasheen Rajkumar. He is a SANRAL project manager, engineer, creative problem solver, big-picture thinker, and futurist that actively thinks about solving local and global problems. Listen or watch to explore: His definition of smart mobility and the key elements of smart mobility. Biggest challenges currently holding back progress in enabling smarter, sustainable mobility. How these challenges can be addressed ri...
Phila Lubisi is an ambitious young professional with a great passion for young people. He is currently a Key Account Manager at Altron Karabinna. Listen or watch to explore: Overview of his career and role at Altron Karabina and why it is important. His experience in peer to peer mentorship and how it is beneficial. Key takeaways from Govtech 2022. Progress being made. The main challenges to digitization in the public sector and what is still slowing down progress. His approach to continues lear...
Peter Griffiths is a Global Urban Futures Expert who helps people see and imagine cities differently. In this Master Class on city branding we dive into why brand is so critically important and how to leverage it for maximum impact, how brand impacts people’s lives, African cities to be treated as peers internationally, and so much more. Listen or watch to explore: Why we should think about brand when cities already have so many other challenges to solve. Science and data to prove that brand rea...
Bronwyn WIlliams is an Economist, Trend Analyst, Futurist and Partner at Flux Trends. She shares the key trends that will impact cities, businesses, and citizens in 2023. We dive into Greenlining, Georgism, Liveable cities, the future of technology and cities, and more trends for 2023. Listen or watch to explore: Greenlining: What it is and its potential impacts. The reappearance of an ideology called Georgism. New ideas around how we value things. The perfect wealth tax. Liveable cities and how...
Sandile Mbatha is a Senior Manager responsible for Research and Policy Advocacy in eThekwini Municipality. We discuss how eThekwini is creating data driven, smart, liveable and caring cities. Listen or watch to explore: His career and background. How he defines a ‘Smart City’ in the African context. Why data is important for Smart Cities and how it should be used. How to make sense of large amounts of complex data. Challenges keeping us from data driven, liveable and caring cities. How these cha...
Jennifer Mirembe is Chair: Education Committee at the Urban Design Institute of South Africa. We discuss: Urban designers towards healthy cities. Listen or watch to explore: About the Urban Design Institute of South Africa. What is meant by ‘Healthy Cities’. What are currently making our cities unhealthy. How current challenges can be addressed. Cities currently getting it right with regards to moving toward a healthier city. The important link between urban design and public health. The importa...
Michael Gamwo is Head of the Africa at Wesgro. In episode 7 of the 10 episode Wesgro Series on Future Cities Africa we discuss: The Future of Doing Business in Africa Listen or watch to explore: Overview of his role at Wesgro and why it is important The future of ‘ doing’ business in Africa Key opportunities and challenges with regards to doing business Africa Global trends in terms of interest in the African economy The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) opportunities and challenges T...
Kim Walsh is Managing Director at PDG - a public sector consulting firm that supports decision-making in the public interest. We discuss the state of municipal finances in South Africa in 2022. Listen or watch to explore: The state of municipal finances in 2022 in South Africa Internal and external factors causing this state What can be done to improve of this state How municipalities can stay relevant in the future New revenue sources for municipalities New financial model for municipalities He...
Dale Deacon is a creative technologist with a focus on 3D, extended reality (XR), and Web3. We discuss the Metaverse and extended reality’s potential impact on cities and what an average person’s day can look like. Listen or watch to explore: Overview of his background and role at Team Epic. Extended reality (XR) as an umbrella term used to describe immersive technologies that can merge the physical and virtual worlds. Including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR...
Dr Ross Harvey is Director of Research and Programmes at Good Governance Africa. We discuss major governance challenges Africa is facing, potential solutions, how change can happen, emerging disruptors and if there is a glimmer of hope. Listen or watch to explore: Overview of his background and role at Good Governance Africa (GGA) and why it is important. The importance of partnerships and collaboration. Improving citizens’ lives through improved governance performance. Major governance challeng...
Towards sustainable and smart mobility, this episode of the Move Africa show is with Chris Kost, Africa Programme Director at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP). Listen or watch to explore: Overview of his role at ITDP and why it is important. Major industry challenges and potential solutions. Examples of African cities ‘getting it right’. Why a car centric approach to urban planning and development is still the main approach. Emerging technologies and innovative proj...
Khanyisa Mabala is Associate Quantity Surveyor and MEPF Lead for Africa at AECOM. She is passionate about the development of young and aspiring candidates within the construction sector. Listen or watch to explore: Intro to her role at AECOM and why it is important. Major challenges in the sectors she work in and how it is being addressed. Her definition of a Smarty City in the Africa context. The magic bullet to more community involvement in advancing to the so called ‘Smart City’. How, as a yo...
Paul Swart is Executive Mayor at Cape Agulhas Municipality. We discuss examples of visionary leadership, being a family, their smart city vision, innovative solutions to service delivery, long term thinking, managing complexities, and more. This episode is brought to you in p artnership with Business Engineering Listen or watch to explore: An era of renewed hope. The key characteristics of a visionary leader, with examples. What our leaders are not getting right when leading their municipalities...
Ruby Swigelaar is Head of the Agribusiness Investment Promotion Unit at Wesgro. In episode 6 of the 10 episode Wesgro Series on Future Cities Africa we discuss: Food for Thought: The Future of Agribusiness. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Wesgro Listen or watch to understand: Breakdown of her role at Wesgro. The important role Wesgro plays within the sector. The future of agribusiness. How industries in agribusiness are innovating globally. How industries in agribusiness are i...
Paulina Mamogobo is a Director of Trade and Investment Promotion at KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs. Listen or watch to explore: Intro to her role at KZNEDTEA and why it is important. Major challenges in the sectors she work in and how it is being addressed. Her approach to solving challenges in her professional life. How she prioritises what is most important. The importance of having a curious mind. Her approach to continues learning and how she stays ...
Felix Kariba is an urban and regional development expert with broad experience supporting urban governance and formulation of development policies and strategies, as a practitioner and researcher for international organisations, local and national governments, the private sector, and non-profit organisations. Listen or watch to explore: Intro to his background, past work at the Cities Alliance, and more. The biggest challenge facing Africa’s youth and how it can be addressed. [60% of Africans to...
Towards sustainable and smart mobility, this episode of the Move Africa show on Future Cities Africa is with Bongani Mthombeni-Möller, Director for Smart Mobility at Royal HaskoningDHV. Listen or watch to explore: Her career to date. Biggest challenges currently holding back progress in enabling smarter, sustainability mobility. How these challenges can and currently are being addressed. Why industry collaboration make so much sense, but isn’t happening at the rate it should. The need for a comp...
Leah Moodaley is a Communications Practitioner and Content Developer with nine years' multidisciplinary experience, predominantly within the public sector. She is currently Communications and Stakeholder Relations Officer at Coega Development Corporation. Listen or watch to understand: Overview of her role at Coega Development Corporation (CDC) and why it is important. Challenges she face in her work as a communicator in the public sector. Solutions to these challenges and what is actively being...
Visionary Leader Show on Future Cities Africa Leslie Ndawana is Principal Officer and Chief Executive Officer at the National Fund for Municipal Workers (NFMW). The fund has approx R23billion of assets under management. Listen or watch for insights on: Overview of his career and role at NFMW. The key characteristics of a visionary leader. What our public sector leaders are not getting right when leading their municipalities. What needs to change and how change can happen. Thinking outside of the...
Young peoples' experiences, ideas, choices and preferences help shape the future of cities. This episode of the Bright Young Minds Show on Future Cities Africa is with Celiwe Mabaso, a seasoned communications and sustainability professional with a specialisation in community development and impact investment. Currently working as the Senior social performance manager for BTE Renewables. Listen or watch to understand: Overview of her role at BTE Renewables and why her work is important. Major cha...
Erica Joubert is Head of Export Promotion, Joshua Palm is Assistant Export Manager and Jean Scheltema is Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Wesgro. In episode 5 of the 10 episode Wesgro Series on Future Cities Africa we discuss: Made in the Cape - Innovation in Export Promotion. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Wesgro Listen or watch to understand: How Wesgro supports Western Cape exports. Why exports are important in general. Why it is important for an agency like W...
Sean Bennet is Group Executive for NEXTEC, an entity of the EOH group. We discuss how NEXTEC helps in building smarter African cities. Listen or watch to understand: Sean’s definition of a Smart City in the African context. How cities can better leverage technology to make cities smarter, enable economic transformation and help make cities more inclusive. SA’s world class connectivity. Lack of efficient digital infrastructure in secondary cities/towns and townships, what is currently holding bac...
Kurtis Lockhart is Acting Executive Director and Head of Research at The Charter Cities Institute (CCI). We discuss New Cities With New Rules: The Rise of African Charter Cities. Listen or watch to understand: About The Charter Cities Institute (CCI). What Charter Cities are and how the idea came about. The CCI model for Charter Cities and how if differers from the initial model of economist Paul Romer. Reforming institutions in a deep way that is necessary. How we know that these cities will ac...
Sebekedi Motlhabane (Mo) Koloi is Greenfield Investment Portfolio Manager for Technology at Wesgro. In episode 4 of the 10 episode Wesgro Series on Future Cities Africa we discuss: Building a Globally Competitive Tech Hub. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Wesgro Listen or watch to understand: Breakdown of his role at Wesgro. Tech ecosystems. How the Cape Town / Western Cape tech ecosystem stand up to the rest of the world. Competition between different areas (Cape Town, Stellen...
Lisa Johansson is Green Economy Investment & Finance Liaison at Wesgro & GreenCape. Jarrod Lyon is Business Development Executive at Atlantis Special Economic Zone for Green Technologies. In episode 3 of the 10 episode Wesgro Series on Future Cities Africa we discuss: Attracting Investment Into the Green Economy and the Atlantis SEZ. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Wesgro Listen or watch to understand: The investment promotion ecosystem supporting the green economy. The Green ...
Janet Channing is Managing Director and Ayanda Ngcobo is Director at MetGovis. In episode 1 of the MetGovis series on Future Cities Africa we discuss how MetGovis is partnering with local government towards sustainability. This episode is brought to you in partnership with MetGovis Listen or watch to understand: Who and what MetGovis is. How and why MetGovis was started. Their personal journey. How they help solve complex problems within public and private sectors. Overcoming the challenge of ca...
Monika Iuel is Chief Destination Marketing Officer at Wesgro, the Official Tourism, Trade, Investment and Film Agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape. In episode 2 of the 10 episode Wesgro Series on Future Cities Africa we discuss: Tourism After The Great Disruption. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Wesgro Listen or watch to understand: How leisure tourism can affect a local economy and thus a city. How the tourism industry can find the best ways to leverage technological so...
Karen Bosman is Strategic Advisor: Office of the CEO at Wesgro. In episode 1 of the 10 episode Wesgro Series on Future Cities Africa we discuss: Harnessing the benefits of foreign direct investment (FDI), exports and tourism. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Wesgro Listen or watch to understand: The context of what Wesgro does and why it is important. Wesgro’s different functions. The role that Wesgro plays to achieve these functions. The bigger context and how an agency like W...
