This study assesses Africa’s position in research on smart systems for environmental monitoring in smart cities through a bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature. The analysis is based on publications indexed in the Scopus database between 2020 and 2025 and combines Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny and VOSviewer to examine publication trends, influential authors, leading institutions, country contributions, collaboration networks, and keyword co-occurrence patterns. A total of 19,509 publications were selected after applying eligibility criteria related to publication period, language, document type, and disciplinary relevance. The findings show a marked growth in scientific output on smart environmental monitoring, reflecting the increasing importance of embedded systems, Internet of Things technologies, sensor networks, and artificial intelligence in urban environmental management. The results also reveal a strong geographical concentration of research in North America, Europe, and Asia, with China, the United States, and India emerging as the most productive contributors. In contrast, Africa remains marginal in terms of publication output, institutional visibility, and participation in international collaboration networks. This underrepresentation appears to be associated with structural constraints, including limited research infrastructure, financial barriers, and weak integration into global scientific partnerships. By mapping the intellectual and collaborative structure of this field, the study highlights major research trends and identifies the need for stronger investment, capacity building, and international cooperation to enhance Africa’s contribution to smart and sustainable urban environmental monitoring.

This research examines where Africa stands in the field of smart environmental monitoring systems for cities by analyzing scientific publications through bibliometric methods. The study focuses on papers found in the Scopus database from 2020 to 2025, using both Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny and VOSviewer tools to explore publication patterns, key researchers, top institutions, country participation, collaborative relationships, and common research themes. After filtering for publication timeframe, language, document format, and subject relevance, researchers identified 19,509 qualifying publications for analysis. The results demonstrate significant expansion in research output related to intelligent environmental monitoring systems, indicating growing recognition of how embedded technologies, Internet of Things applications, sensor networks, and artificial intelligence contribute to managing urban environments. However, the data reveals that research activity clusters heavily in North America, Europe, and Asia, with China, the United States, and India leading in publication volume. Africa shows notably limited presence across multiple measures, including research output, institutional prominence, and involvement in global research partnerships. This limited participation seems connected to various structural challenges, such as insufficient research facilities, funding limitations, and minimal connection to worldwide scientific collaborations. Through analyzing the knowledge base and partnership patterns in this research area, the study identifies key developments in the field while pointing to the urgent need for increased funding, skill development, and international partnerships to strengthen Africa's role in advancing smart and sustainable urban environmental monitoring technologies.