Towards Improving Urban Air Quality in Africa

: A Scalable Integrated Framework for Data Generation, Action and Policy

Abstract

Air pollution is responsible for over 1.2 million premature deaths in Africa annually (about 15% of global mortality), and yet the actions taken to combat air pollution are not commensurate with the level of exposure. Tackling air pollution requires a wide range of interventions anchored on a robust policy framework, availability of data, public participation and cross-sectoral coordination, but the requisite re-sources for such robust programmes are prohibitive for many cities in Africa. This phenomenon advances the case for new approaches including the use of emerging technologies for monitoring, citizen participation, participatory policy development and collaboration synergies, but there are limited documented case studies for such integrated frameworks in the African context. This thesis based on prior publications addresses this important knowledge gap by developing a scalable integrated framework for data generation and uptake to enable action and policy in an African city setting, and significantly contributes to addressing the critical gaps concerning: scarcity of ground monitoring; lack of cross-sectoral and cross-border collaborations; limited awareness and public participation; and policy development. The thesis ad-vances knowledge by answering two critical questions concerned with optimal data infrastructure for continuous air quality monitoring in African cities, and the effective model for stakeholder synergies and framework for enabling action and policy. This research shows that air quality across all African regions significantly exceed the WHO annual health guidelines by 4-12 times, and that African airsheds are dominated by localised combustion emissions from domestic and transport sources constituting up to 50% (70% in West African cities) with some contextual sources like sea salt in coastal cities, and major point sources from coal power plants in South Africa. Peak pollution episodes occur from 0600 to 1000 hours and from 1800-2200 hours across all regions with limited variations, but COVID-19 mobility restrictions offered temporary relief in all cities. Although there are incremental efforts to close the data gaps in Africa, most countries (over 30%) do not have continuous data points, while interventions targeting awareness and policy constituted only 5% and 20% respectively, between 2000 and 2019. By examining the critical role of low-cost sensors, this research defines three tenets for continuous air quality monitoring using low-cost sensors as: (1) distributed decentralised sensing network comprising custom and autonomous portable sensors, (2) data management platform, and (3) community engagement. The thesis also advances a philosophical shift towards utilising non-government data for accelerated action and policymaking as a contemporary phenomenon, which also incentivises transdisciplinary collaborations. A multilevel transdisciplinary synergy integrated with data generation processes is proposed to advance data uptake while untangling the barriers in policy development and navigating the stakeholder philosophical differences. The research further proposes a multi-level intervention ecosystem anchored on a foundational policy landscape that recognises air quality as a priority, encompassing three interconnected ingredients: policy commitments, data generation and investment for clean air. This work offers an important foundation for tackling air pollution in African cities by demonstrating the foundational underpinnings for a holistic intervention that leverages new methodologies and contextualised solutions for clean air actions.

Date of Award	8 Jan 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Portsmouth
Supervisor	Julia Brown (Supervisor) & Bainomugisha Bainomugisha (Supervisor)