For more than a decade, the private sector has been disrupting mobility systems in African cities. In every sector of mobility, businesses and industries have been changing the way people move around in urban and rural areas. Road transport has been dominated by informal transport which accounts for 70 to 100% of transport supply (for example in Abidjan and Ouagadougou). Yet, this mode of transport is not well regulated by any authority and is still managed by unskilled operators who drive old, polluting and unsafe vehicles. 

Local initiatives have developed notable innovations and digital tools, shining lights on the heart of mobility supply in the region which is informal transport. Through route mapping, digital payment and MaaS solutions, operations and revenues of this so-called “informal system” are easily accessible to people. Decision makers can set up better regulations and policies to support it in a sustainable manner.

As the Director of Movin’On LAB Africa, I have had the opportunity to work with solutions like Mojaride, E-warren and Soutrali in Côte d’Ivoire to develop digital payment systems to collect data on route networks, profiles of users and drivers, transport budget and type of vehicles used. This helps users to manage their wallets and savings. Drivers also have better access to banking, insurance services and even specific loan mechanisms to acquire new vehicles. 

To integrate informal and public transport, big cities like Abidjan, Dakar or Nairobi are working on the concept of Mobility as a service. For example, the Senegalese-Moroccan startup, Weego, operates a platform that successfully integrates taxis, bus and tramway lines in the city of Casablanca.

Fleet management solutions also help small and medium enterprises (SME) and multinationals monitor vehicles’ activity and staff driving behaviour, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving safety. For example, the Ivorian startup, Digitrans B2B, promotes road safety and eco-driving within its client companies.

Electric mobility is another great example on how innovations of local and international businesses empower mobility actors, improve their living and working conditions while fighting climate change. In Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya, companies like Ampersand, Stima, Safi, Mopepe and Roam (ex-Opibus) are front-runners of safe, green and affordable electric mobility solutions. Manufacturing locally is also an important element for sustainable and local value creation in Africa. The region is still relying heavily on car imports which prevents the region from maximising its own potentials from an economic, taxation and local skill value perspective. To resolve this,Roam and Basigo in Kenya and Solar Taxi in Ghana have launched locally designed and manufactured electric vehicles to set new standards for the industry, contributing to clean, resilient and fuel-independent transport in Africa. Innovations are also touching the recycling sector. In Cameroon, Senegal, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa, local startups are promoting circular economy by collecting vehicle wastes like batteries and used tires to transform them into new batteries, rubber granula for playgrounds (Pneupur and E-cover), shoe polish (Cubic 38), shoes, mats and street pebbles (Free recycle limited).

African mobility practices have experienced major transformations over the 5 past years thanks to digitisation and new urban logistics systems. Businesses have literally modernised and formalised these local services and operators considered informal and unprofessional. In the logistic sector, many businesses have used technology like geolocalisation, artificial intelligence and specific logistics programmes to build solid supply chains and delivery processes, and to enable e-commerce, storage and pick up services for individuals and companies.

In the on-demand transport sector, the concept of uberisation has had a huge impact on people’s mobility. Safeboda (Uganda), Gozem (Togo), Yassir (Morocco) and Tleva (Angola) as well as international mobility platforms like Yango and Heetch have adapted their services to the local contexts and contributed to enhance safety of “boda bodas”, ”okadas”, “zemnidjan” (motorcycles taxi in East Africa, Nigeria and Togo/Benin) and car taxis. As taxi-sharing and carpooling have been the essence of public transport in African cities since the 1980s, local businesses have been inspired by these practices and developed reliable, safer, and more accessible solutions, such as Pip pip Yalah (Morocco) and Rmobility (Benin). 

Working in an ecosystem like Movin’On LAB Africa has allowed me to bring visibility and promote local businesses in Africa who dedicate their activity to improve the mobility conditions of vulnerable people and underserved communities. Inclusive mobility initiatives are still unsupported by authorities in most African countries yet, in both rural and urban areas, solutions like Mobility for Africa (Zimbabwe), Divas Taxi (Uganda) and Hestia (Côte d’Ivoire) are empowering women but also men promoting gender inclusivity as well as contributing to job creation.

The private sector also gave the necessary momentum to influence public policies and national strategies to better align with the Paris Agreement objectives. For example, in Kenya, Roam has contributed to the engagement of the country toward zero-emission mobility, which helped to motivate the country to sign the COP26 Declaration on Accelerating the Transition to 100% Zero Emission Cars and Vans. Morocco and Rwanda have also officially announced the commitment to achieve zero emission mobility by 2040. The “Startup act” started in Tunisia, followed by Senegal and the regulations law project in Côte d’Ivoire were the result of collective work led by local startups and associations like Ci20, calling for specific legislation framework for registration, funding and taxation. APEME CI ‘’(Agency for the promotion of Electric mobility) also gathers the major players (startups, companies, multinationals, energy suppliers and government representatives) involved in the energy and mobility sectors and lobby for an inclusive framework for innovation and local value creation in the field of electric mobility. As a result, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of the Environment is accelerating the creation process of an e-mobility policy in the country that was engaged in 2017. In Democratic Republic of Congo, Mopepe, its first electric car sharing startup, is working alongside the government to promote sustainable and green mobility in the city of Kinshasa and beyond.

Businesses and industries are the real catalysts to accelerate sustainable, low carbon transport in Africa. Local solutions bring out human-centred innovations to make mobility more accessible, safer, inclusive and sustainable. They create and anticipate the different trends and market needs to provide better services for people’s mobility. As they work closer to users and operators, they are expected to act hand in hand with the authorities to support fair and inclusive national strategies. Yet, because they serve private interests and agendas, businesses and industries should always act to promote nations’ sustainable development in priority as well as local initiatives and job creation.

For COP27, voices from the African continent and the Global South are advocating for the reinforcement of value creation through local industry and R&D development. I strongly encourage these messages to be heard and translated into actions and inclusive policies. Besides, at urban and periurban scales, businesses and industries must develop low tech solutions to support the circular economy while minimising the cost. They should opt for digitised tools to avoid unnecessary transport trips to significantly reduce greenhouse gases emissions, improve air quality and increase productivity in our cities.