The Cross River State Government has clinched a deal with Chinese technology company Huawei to transform Calabar, the state capital, into a smart city. A Memorandum of Understanding signed by the parties provides the basis for a project that would avail the city’s residents of a cloud-based data service which could set Cross River State on the path to becoming fully digitalized.
Media reports indicate that the contractors plan to provide 3G and 4G services on a state-wide scale and make cheap Wi-Fi available all over Calabar.
The Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, said that the project would make Calabar Nigeria’s first smart city. The governor spoke enthusiastically about the smart city project and suggested that homes and institutions would benefit immensely from it.
Also on board the project is Sino Infrastructure, the Chinese company will be providing technical support, to complement Huawei’s role as equipment manufacturer. Its Managing Director, Li Yamping, assured that it would be working with the Cross River State government and Huawei to execute the project and would “maintain the required standard and deliver as at when due”.