Akoma

Prepared for SM DigitalSeptember 2026

SM Digital + Akoma

Connecting public insight with project delivery.

SM Digital brings public-sector data and planning tools. We bring experience shaping, funding and managing developments.

Here are five ways we could put that experience to work together.

Explore the possibilities

Ideas for discussion. No partnership or project has been agreed.

Concept visual of homes around a planted shared courtyard at Linbro Gardens
Linbro GardensShared courtyard · Concept visual

Where our work meets

A shared view of the project.
A clearer route forward.

SM Digital

Your African Strategic Hub and Living Plans bring data, planning and monitoring into the same conversation.

The possible connection

What does this mean
for a particular project?

Akoma

We work through the site, feasibility, funding and delivery questions that shape a development, from its first concept onwards.

Together, we could help a project team connect the wider public picture to the decisions, people and work needed on the ground.

Five possibilities

Where could we
be useful together?

Each starts with a different need. All five are open for discussion; the right starting point depends on the work you have in hand.

Municipal project
readiness

An existing project needs funding.

Prepare a housing or infrastructure project for a specific funding application. Establish the funder’s requirements, assemble the project case and coordinate the missing studies or professional inputs.

How we could contribute

SM Digital could supply the planning and public-sector context. Akoma could develop the project case and model, coordinate professional inputs and manage the submission checklist.

We would first assess the material already available and agree the work needed to complete it. Technical studies, design and statutory approvals would sit with the relevant appointed professionals.

What we could deliver

A submission pack with a project business case, financial model, cost plan, development programme and the supporting studies and approvals required by the chosen funder.

From a plan
to a project

A planning priority needs a development programme.

Turn a priority identified through Living Plans into a defined development proposal: what to build, for whom, on which site, at what likely cost and in what sequence.

How we could contribute

SM Digital could bring the planning priorities and information held in Living Plans. Akoma could define the brief, test the development options and coordinate the programme with the design and technical team.

The work would depend on access to site and planning information. Any connection to Living Plans would be scoped together.

What we could deliver

A development brief, concept layout prepared with the design team, initial feasibility model and a programme showing phases, professional appointments, approvals, costs and milestones.

Development
intelligence

Several sites or options need comparing.

Compare candidate sites or development options before committing to detailed studies. Assess land-use permissions, infrastructure capacity, demand, indicative costs and the constraints that could rule an option out.

How we could contribute

SM Digital could contribute available public data and mapping. Akoma could assess the implications for development feasibility, costs and funding needs.

This is an initial assessment using the available evidence. Site investigations and specialist due diligence would follow for any shortlisted option.

What we could deliver

A ranked comparison with a map, source references, indicative financial scenarios and the unresolved checks for each option. A recommendation would identify which option merits detailed feasibility, or explain why none does.

Specialist
delivery support

A client assignment needs extra delivery capacity.

Take responsibility for a defined part of an SM Digital assignment. For example, prepare a municipality’s monthly project-portfolio report from the records its project teams supply.

How we could contribute

SM Digital could lead the client relationship and agree the reporting requirements. Akoma could reconcile the records, prepare the report and take the receiving team through the template.

The same arrangement could cover another named deliverable, such as a feasibility model or training material. Scope, acceptance criteria and responsibility for source information would be agreed before work starts.

What we could deliver

For that reporting assignment: a checked project register, a report showing budget and programme variances, an action log, and an editable reporting template with handover instructions.

Operational AI

A repeated document task needs testing.

Test one client workflow against the way it is done today. For example, turn a tender document into a draft compliance checklist, with each requirement linked to its source clause for a person to review.

How we could contribute

SM Digital could bring the client workflow, permitted data and system context. Akoma could build the prototype, run the comparison and review the results with the people doing the work.

The test would use agreed data permissions and human review. Routine deployment, integrations and ongoing support would be scoped after the results are known.

What we could deliver

A working prototype tested on an agreed sample of documents, reviewed outputs, a comparison of time spent and errors, and an operating guide covering access, human checks and support.

Make the work tangible

A funding submission with the work behind it.

For the first possibility, we could start by checking an existing project against a chosen funder’s application requirements. That would establish which documents are ready and what must be completed before submission.

Illustrative format only. This is not a live product, client case or completed assessment.

Funding submission checklistIllustrative

Housing or infrastructure proposal

Documents to assemble and check

Project case
Need, beneficiaries, scope and proposed delivery body.
Financials
Cost plan, financial model, funding request and assumptions.
Site & design
Land information, design documents and technical studies required at this funding stage.
Approvals
Evidence of the consents and approvals required for submission.
Programme
Phases, procurement steps, responsibilities and dates.

Experience we would bring

We’ve worked through
these questions ourselves.

Our perspective comes from developing places and advising project teams. These are examples of Akoma’s work.

Concept visual of residents tending food gardens between homes at Linbro Gardens
Linbro Park, Johannesburg · Food gardens concept visual

Linbro Gardens

A planned mixed-income community of around 300 apartments. We built the financial model and fundraising case, securing a R23.9m DBSA Green Fund pre-construction capital facility. Our role continues across planning, design, costing and low-carbon feasibility.

Timber building, pool and trees at 58 in the Cradle
Cradle of Humankind · Development experience

58 in the Cradle

We were involved as partners and development managers from the start, helping shape the masterplan, assemble teams and manage design and construction work.

Gauteng · Completed advisory

Kudung CPA

We delivered a development framework, masterplan and financial model for a Communal Property Association’s 3,800 hectares. Workshops with the client and input from planners and sector specialists helped balance commercial opportunity, heritage, community settlement and land use.

eThekwini · Delivered advisory

Karibu Community
Care Centre

Our work brought design, financial models and a funding document together for the community care centre.

North West · Stage 1 delivered

Haarties

As appointed development manager for a waterfront landholding, we completed the first-stage site and constraints report and established one coordination route for the professional team.

Working together

Shape the arrangement
around the work.

We could work alongside your team, provide specialist support or develop a joint offer. The arrangement should fit the assignment and the people responsible for it.

The assignment

What needs to be produced, for whom, and how will they use it?

The responsibilities

Who leads the client relationship, supplies the information and reviews the work?

The agreement

How should fees, data access, ownership and ongoing support work?

A conversation to start

What are you working on
that we could help with?

We’d like to hear which projects or delivery challenges are taking your attention, and where these ideas overlap with what your team needs.

From there, we can decide together whether one area is worth taking further.