An overview of transport events throughout the week available here.

Africa’s contribution to global transport demand has historically been low, and has remained so relative to other regions. Nevertheless, Africa has the highest growth in transport CO2 emissions in the 21st century. In 2018, nine African cities (Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Durban, Johannesburg, Lagos, and Tshwane) committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, yet low-carbon transport policy measures in Africa trail other regions. By the end of 2017, only three regional low carbon transport studies had been completed for Africa, and only six of the 54 African countries had completed low carbon estimates for transport.

However, cost effective and locally appropriate transport solutions for Africa are available now and can bring significant local co-benefits – especially for vulnerable groups like slum dwellers, the rural poor, children and youth and older persons. Experience from across the globe has demonstrated that a comprehensive approach to avoiding unnecessary transport demand, shifting to more efficient modes and improving transport technologies and fuels can make transport systems more efficient, accessible, affordable, and ultimately, sustainable.

“The SLoCaT Partnership calls on all actors to seize the opportunities offered by affordable and sustainable low carbon transport to support social, economic development and tackle climate change in Africa. The SLoCaT Partnership and its 96 global members are ready and willing to provide their support.” 

Mohamed Mezghani, Secretary General, International Union of Public Transport (UITP) and SLoCaT Foundation Board Member

Low carbon transport solutions have been implemented in recent years: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems have emerged in several African cities, including Dar es Salaam, Cape Town and Johannesburg, as an option to increase capacity in urban public transport, with Dar es Salaam carrying 160,000 passengers daily in 2017. That same year, Kenya opened a 480 km-long rail line connecting Nairobi to Mombasa. In 2016, Marrakech became the first African city with a bike sharing system, and in 2017, El Gouna, Egypt launched Africa’s first electric bike (e-bike) share system. In 2017 Mobike and UN Environment announced plans for a dockless bike sharing system in Nairobi, which was launched in May 2018.

In East Africa, the Northern Corridor Master Plan was launched in 2017 to improve logistics and ease cargo congestion, by connecting the port of Mombasa in Kenya to landlocked Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and D.R. Congo. In 2017, South Africa committed to having more than 2.9 million electric cars on their roads by 2050 to meet their Paris Agreement goals. Mauritius and South Africa have also implemented various tax and rebate schemes to encourage the purchase of low emission vehicles.

“All African governments should include a comprehensive and coherent approach to transport in their revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) they will submit to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by 2020.”
Winnie Mitullah, Director of the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) and Associate Research Professor, University of Nairobi and SLoCaT Foundation Board Member

On the occasion of the Africa Climate Week (ACW) 2019 the SLoCaT Partnership calls on all African countries to work together with national stakeholders to develop comprehensive and coherent sustainable and low carbon action plans. By leapfrogging outdated and inefficient transport solutions, African countries can move rapidly to cost effective and efficient mobility solutions. More accessible cities, fewer accidents, lower transport costs, cleaner air and greater energy independence are just some of the benefits of sustainable low carbon transport solutions for Africa.

At Africa Climate Week the SloCaT Partnership is represented by the following members:

GIZ: Martin Schäfer, Transport Advisor, martin.schaefer@giz.de
ICLEI: Blake Robinson, Senior Professional Officer: Mobility, blake.robinson@iclei.org
Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP): Ramón Cruz, International Policy Program Director, ramon.cruz@itdp.org; Alphonse Nkurunziza, Transport Planner, alphonse.nkurunziza@itdp.org
REN21: Laura Williamson, Director, Outreach and Communication, laura.williamson@ren21.net
UN-Habitat: Edmund Teko, Mobility Expert, edmund.teko@uemi.net

SLoCaT´s work in the UNFCCC process is supported by Movin´On – our partners in the Paris Process on Mobility and Climate (PPMC).

Contacts:

The SLoCaT Partnership Secretariat is represented at Africa Climate Week by: Maruxa Cardama, Secretary General – maruxa.cardama@slocatpartnership.org and Chris Dekki, Senior Associate, Policy Advocacy and Outreach chris.dekki@slocatpartnership.org. Please contact them with any questions, comments or for interviews (AR, EN, ES, FR, AR, ES, PT).

Don’t miss these examples of positive transformation for people and planet from some SLoCaT Partnership members working in Africa:

The Train Regional Express (TER) in Dakar, Senegal

This train is the first Bi-mode (electric and fuel) train system in French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a landmark project for Senegal transport sector. This train will significantly improve urban mobility in the metropolis of Dakar. As a means of mass transport, to 115,000 passenger per day, it provides a satisfactory response in terms of capacity, comfort and safety of its passengers. Better still, as it is partly an electric train, it is less polluting, less noisy and less expensive. In consequent, this train will contribute to reducing air pollution in the city of Dakar and CO2 emissions by approximately 17,000 tons of CO2 annually.

The TER is a co-financed project that has required a synergy of actions and close collaboration between Senegal’s partners in the project, including the Government of France, the French Development Agency, the African Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank. The IsDB’s contribution to the financing of this project is EUR 300 million which were used for the construction of infrastructure, including a double tracks railway, 100 bridges and other connecting infrastructure and connecting the city of Dakar to Diamniadio (36 km).

For more information, please contact: Mouchili Mayoua, Islamic Development Bank, MMayoua@isdb.org

EcoMobility SHIFT in Jinja and Entebbe, Uganda

ICLEI is currently working with Jinja and Entebbe in Uganda on assessing the state of mobility in each city, using the EcoMobility SHIFT Assessment tool. This is the first time the tool is being applied in Africa, and a wide range of mobility-related indicators will be assessed in order to assist the cities to identify areas for priority action that will make their mobility systems more sustainable.

For more information, please see: http://ecomobility.org/ecomobility-shift/

Urban Low Emissions Development Strategies (URBAN-LEDS II) in South Africa and Rwanda

ICLEI is working with 7 municipalities in South Africa and 3 districts in Rwanda on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving city resilience. This is done through capacity building, peer-to-peer exchanges, and technical assistance to develop low emissions development strategies and greenhouse gas inventories, assess risks and vulnerabilities, engage in multi-level governance, and access climate finance.

For more information, please see: https://urban-leds.org/

TUMI Startup Accelerator in Nairobi, Kenya

In the framework of the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI), the accelerator provides technical support to startups that work towards transformative solutions to urban mobility challenges. Currently, there are eight mobility startups that are receiving mentorship in key focus areas: urban mobility,businesses development, marketing, legal issues, financial management, technology and investor relations. The startups will present to various stakeholders on 13th March 2019 and later at the mobility summit on 10th June 2019 that will take place during Nairobi Innovation Week.

For more information please see: https://tumiaccelerator.c4dlab.ac.ke/

Advancing Transport Climate Strategies in Kenya (TraCS)

Kenya’s State Department of Transport (SDoT) and GIZ cooperate to implement Kenya’s international climate commitment, the so-called Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in the transport sector. The sectoral target is to reduce 3.46 Mt CO2e in 2030 against the baseline, ensuring that the transport sector will not emit more than 14.45 Mt CO2e in 2030. Mitigation analysis showed that the biggest potentials to reduce emissions lie in improving efficiency in freight transport and expanding electric mobility (buses, motorcycles and cars). TraCS has helped the SDoT establish a Climate Change Coordination Unit in charge of climate change policy development and reporting. The first annual transport climate change report will be submitted to the Climate Change Directorate in 2019.

For more information please see: https://www.changing-transport.org/country/kenya/

Sustainable Urban Transport Master Plan for Windhoek, Namibia (MoveWindhoek)

Since recording began, GHG emissions in Namibia have increased, with transport accounting for 68% of Namibia’s fossil energy use in 2010. With the ever-growing population and motorisation rate in the capital Windhoek, total traffic passenger volumes are expected to increase further. As a result, congestion, air pollution and GHG emissions are expected to rise significantly. To mitigate those impacts, Namibia’s NDCs, as part of the Paris Climate Agreement, recognise sustainable urban transport-related aims. Since 2014, the City of Windhoek, the Namibian Ministry of Works and Transport together with GIZ are implementing the MoveWindhoek project, being based on the Sustainable Urban Transport Master Plan. Implementations focus thus far was the improvement of the Public Transport system and development of a comprehensive strategy for Non-Motorised Transport.

For more information please see: https://sutp.org/en/projects/namibia-move-windhoek-sustainable-trban-transport.html

Bus Rapid Transit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The Dar es Salaam Bus Rapid Transit (DART), supported by the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP), is the first true BRT system in East Africa. The first phase of the network spans 21 km of trunk route and carries an estimated 200,000 passengers per day. The system has reduced commute times by more than half for citizens, who previously faced upwards of four hours stuck in traffic. At stations with passing lanes, BRT buses provide express service to key destinations, saving even more time. ITDP assisted with service planning, corridor designs, business planning, and non-motorized transport access designs for the DART system.

For more information about this and other projects in the region, visit: http://africa.itdp.org/cities/

Hackathons for Sustainable Urban Mobility across Africa

In 2018, WhereIsMyTransport partnered with Facebook and the GIZ’s Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI) to host hackathon events in five African cities: Johannesburg, Kampala, Nairobi, Kigali and Dar es Salaam. More than 300 software developers, transport engineers, data scientists, designers, urban planners, and policy makers responded to the invitation. Over three days, they worked with data provided by WhereIsMyTransport (on formal and informal public transport) and their integrated mobility data platform to develop solutions to real-world problems experienced by the millions of people who rely on public transport for access to public services and new opportunities in these cities. The output: more than 60 innovative prototypes – from apps to incentivise ‘greener’ transport choices, and apps that solve ‘last mile’ journey planning, to apps that make life easier and safer for minority communities. Some of these solutions are live, some are in development, and WhereIsMyTransport and their partners continue to support the best of the teams and their ideas to bring them to market.

For more information please see: https://www.whereismytransport.com/

Enabling the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 11

The UN Sustainable Development Goal, Target 11.2 requires cities to provide safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable public transport for everyone. In the developed world, this is relatively easy to measure, provided the data exists. In emerging markets like Africa, SDG Target 11.2 is much more difficult to measure in any meaningful way, because there is little or no information on public transport networks. Also, there is a risk that the implementation of SDG 11.2 could fail to account for i) temporal dimensions, and ii) non-Western forms of transport. For example, frequencies, routes, and fares in informal systems will vary depending on the time of day. Stops on informal routes are not commonly pre-defined, which makes it difficult to measure accessibility in terms of the number of people living within a 500m radius of a given stop. Affordability is a significant factor affecting accessibility in low income communities. Safety is equally important.

WhereIsMyTransport have the largest source of public transport data in these markets. Their research team has designed a new set of indicators to support the implementation of SDG 11.2, taking into account the complex public transport landscape in emerging markets. Without this insight, it will simply be impossible for cities in emerging markets to achieve it. In addition to working directly with cities, development finance institutions and NGOs, WhereIsMyTransport also uses their position with key groups – e.g., the UITP’s Sustainable Development Commission – to bring the results of their research to an audience that can help influence the strategic global conversation.

For more information please see: https://www.whereismytransport.com/

The Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) is an international multi-stakeholder partnership of over 90 members, representing transport sector organisations, UN entities, multilateral and bilateral development organisations, NGOs, philanthropy, academia think tanks and the private sector. Since its establishment 10 years ago, SLoCaT promotes the integration of all modes of sustainable, low carbon transport in global climate and sustainability policy frameworks. It also enables knowledge and action towards the implementation of sustainable, low carbon transport with a focus on developing countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa. SLoCaT develops its mission through knowledge and data analysis, policy advocacy and multi-stakeholder dialogue and coalition building.

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