Sylvia Muzila, Mayor of Francistown in Botswana, announced that the Huawei CCTV project, the country's second, will be completed before the end of 2019.

In November 2017 the Botswana Police Service and Chinese multinational firm entered into a contract to establish a video surveillance project.

The cost of the project has not been disclosed, and according to the deal images captured by CCTV equipment will be monitored in realtime by the police command centre.

Law enforcement initiate "on-the-ground intervention" and the footage is assimilated to contribute towards investigations.

Police Commissioner Keabetswe Makgophe said the project was necessary to maintain effective policing.

It was first rolled out in the capital Gaborone, 430km from Francistown and has now been confirmed for the country's second biggest region.

Muzila added: "The project is designed to make the city safer and it entails the installment of CCTV cameras in highly frequented public places that have been identified as risky areas that are favorable to criminals."

In a statement, Huawei said the project will make the two cities (which it describes as key drivers of development and economy in Botswana) safer.

In August 2019, ITWeb Africa reported the launch of a similar project in Cameroon with the unveiling of the country's national command centre for video surveillance facility as part of the country's Intelligent City Project.