As China seeks to expand its role as a security partner in Africa, especially through the Global Security Initiative (GSI), one facet of this assistance is the transfer of what is colloquially known as “smart city technology.” At their core, smart cities leverage digital technologies—including artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the Internet of Things—to redesign urban living and governance, connecting urban centers to devices and sensors to undertake surveillance, improve security, ameliorate service delivery, and better overall urban management.
China’s smart city initiatives represent another conduit by which China is outplaying the United States by meeting African states’ multiple needs—security, economic development, and regime survival —in one fell swoop. In Washington, China’s smart city overtures in Africa should cause some amount of concern, not necessarily for what they are, but more so for what they represent: an increasingly capable China that understands African states better than the United States.
