NAIROBI, Kenya — September 27, 2025 (EAT).

A Kenyan health firm has unveiled a sweeping smart-city strategy aimed at revolutionising urban healthcare across Africa by 2050, leveraging hospitals, renewable energy and digital networks as foundational pillars. 

The Vision

• The firm, Mwale Medical & Technology City (MMTC), announced plans to develop 18 smart cities across 12 African countries where each city’s backbone will integrate healthcare infrastructure, digital systems, and energy independence. 

• The strategy envisions turning these cities into model ecosystems where hospitals and clinics are interwoven with smart networks, renewable power systems, data platforms, and urban services that respond to health and social needs. 

• At the 80th United Nations General Assembly side events, MMTC positioned its proposal as an African-led response to the health systems and urbanisation challenges facing growing cities. 

Why It Matters

• Bridging health-urban gaps: Many African cities face fractured service delivery, weak health systems, and grew faster than infrastructure. Embedding healthcare into smart city design could reduce inefficiencies and improve access.

• Sustainable, integrated model: By combining digital networks, renewable energy, and health services, MMTC’s approach seeks to avoid the “add-on clinic” model and instead build health into the fabric of urban planning.

• Scalability & ambition: The goal of 18 cities across Africa gives the plan continental relevance and potential for coordination, economies of scale, technology sharing and regional markets.

• Investment signal: The announcement can attract public-private investors, tech firms, and development partners into health-urban development, not just isolated healthcare interventions.

Challenges & Risks

• Financing & capital constraints: Building “smart” infrastructure, health facilities, and networks at scale is capital intensive — obtaining sustainable funding will be key.

• Regulatory & governance complexity: Every country has distinct legal, health, land, and data laws. Harmonising them—or adapting the model per jurisdiction—will be essential.

• Technical & implementation capacity: Deploying digital systems, integrating cross-sector data, maintaining infrastructure, and staffing tech-savvy clinical teams across multiple sites poses execution risks.

• Equity & inclusion: Smart cities often risk privileging certain income groups. Ensuring access for low-income residents is critical to avoid widening health disparities.

• Sovereignty & data issues: Handling health and personal data across borders raises privacy, sovereignty, cybersecurity and ethical questions.

What to Monitor

• Which countries & cities sign to pilot the first tranche of smart cities.

• How partnerships are structured (governments, tech firms, health agencies, donors).

• Capital flow: investors, grants, debt, and operating revenue models.

• Stakeholder reaction: from county governments, health ministries, local communities, civil society.

• Progress reports: timelines for first hospital-integrated smart city buildup and metrics for health, digital, and urban outcomes.