The City of Bafoussam, Capital of the West Region of Cameroon would soon be transformed into a Smart City thanks to a convention signed Thursday, April 22, 2021 between the Bafoussam City Council and the lone Telecom Company in Cameroon, Camtel.
The convention is expected to change the face of the city of Bafoussam especially at a time when the town is prepring to host part of the major football competition, the 2021 AFCON competition.
The City Mayor of Bafoussam, Roger Tafam, who signed on behalf of the council said it is no doubt an additional step in the development of the digital domain in general and Bafoussam in particular.
“Besides ameliorating the quality of services of the Bafoussam City Council, the different tools of this digital Initiative will impact greatly urban governance, youth employment, tourism, culture, education just to name but these.” Roger Tafam declared.
Cameroon Telecommunications, Camtel, is in charge of setting up the digital city.
The General Manager of the Telecom company, Judith Yah Sunday Epse Achidi, who paraphrased the document did not hesitate to appreciate the decision from the City Mayor who took the lead in transforming the town into a Smart City.
“In fact, there is no Smart City yet in Cameroon and Bafoussam has opted to be the very first. I therefore seize this opportunity to salute you for choosing CAMTEL our lone incumbent national operator in the field of electronic communications as your partner in this process.” She said.
According to her, it is an initiative that other cities would emulate, and Bafoussam would definitely be a reference.
“We consider this a win-win partnership for both the Bafoussam City Council and CAMTEL. For this reason, I want to assure you that CAMTEL shall put at your disposal its best and latest technical skills and expertise to ensure a resounding success of this partnership. Its success is our pride. Together, we will build a connected city, a digital city, a Smart City for the well-being of the people of your friendly city.” Judith Yah told the City Mayor.
Bafoussam, Future Smart City
A smart city is a framework, predominantly composed of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), to develop, deploy, and promote sustainable development practices to address growing urbanization challenges.
A big part of this ICT framework is essentially an intelligent network of connected objects and machines (also known as a digital city) that transmit data using wireless technology and the cloud.
With Bafoussam a Smart City, applications will be installed to be able to receive, analyze, and manage data in real-time to help the municipality, administration, enterprises, and inhabitants to make better decisions that improve quality of life.
Inhabitants will be opportuned to engage with smart city ecosystems in various ways using smartphones and mobile devices and connected cars and homes.
The benefits are that pairing devices and data with the city’s physical infrastructure and services will cut costs and improve sustainability.
Bafoussam would be able to improve energy distribution, streamline trash collection, decrease traffic congestion, and even improve air quality once the project is completed.
Worth noting is the fact that the City Mayor, Roger Tafam, during the signing ceremony indicated his desire to see Camtel set up incubators for digital projects and enterprises.
