China’s ‘safe city’ project can counter terrorism and curb crime but critics worry it may repress political opposition and peaceful protests
3-MIN READ3-MINJevans NyabiagePublished: 10:30pm, 4 Apr 2026Across major African cities such as Nairobi, Lusaka, and Abuja, governments are using surveillance technologies and credit lines from China to monitor public spaces and curb crime, a new survey shows.The UK-based Institute of Development Studies (IDS) said Chinese banks were increasingly funding African governments to build and maintain digital infrastructure – including surveillance cameras and command and control centres – under the “safe city” project, also known as “smart city”, which is part of the Digital Silk Road programme.In a report released in March, researchers mapped smart city surveillance across 11 countries and found that Chinese companies supplied equipment and technology to every nation surveyed, including Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt.
However, despite being marketed for public safety, IDS researchers said African governments frequently repurposed the surveillance systems to monitor and repress political opposition, peaceful dissidents and human rights activists in the absence of adequate legal oversight.
“Our new research shows that the rapid growth of smart city surveillance in Africa is occurring without adequate legal regulation or oversight,” said Tony Roberts, an independent digital rights researcher and co-author of the IDS “Smart City Surveillance in Africa” report.
“Unregulated surveillance creates a chilling effect that inhibits the right to peaceful protest and reduces the freedom to speak truth to power and hold governments to account.”
