Harare City Council is working with ZESA and Rwanda Energy Group under the smart partnerships agreement between the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Republic of Rwanda to revitalize the city’s street lighting system under a smart city concept.

“We are trying to develop, in terms of what we put in our manifesto, that we will have a smart city. We are beginning to look at the smart city concept. These are called smart street lighting.” The Harare City Mayor, His Worship, Cllr Jacob Mafume, said.

The project, which is prefinanced by ZESA, is set to cover about 35km of the city’s road network and will lead to 1202 streetlights being installed on the rest of the project.

“The extent of the project covers from Airport Road, Seke Road, Julius Nyerere, the stretch of Samora Machel between Rekayi Tangwena and Enterprise, Seventh Street, up to Churchill. Rekayi Tangwena and Ganges Road are some of the roads included in the pilot project.” Acting Head of Mechanical & Electrical Engineering, Eng. Calvin Chigariro, said.

As a smart city concept, the lights will be controlled from a back office. The back office will control the lighting levels, monitor performance in real-time and will have access to the security cameras which will be installed on the streetlights for street safety both during the day and at night.