Project: Network for rethinking transport in Africa

Climate change represents a significant challenge for the African continent. While the people of Africa are only responsible for a small percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions, they are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of a warming world. Africa has experienced robust population and GDP growth in recent years, and these trends are set to continue. The continent is thus standing at a crossroads: Will the future of growth be shaped by climate-friendly socio-economic models? Or will Africa expand its reliance on climate-damaging fossil fuels?

Transport is responsible for a third of Africa’s energy-related CO2 emissions – and emissions are on the rise, mostly due to increased motorization. The need for forward-looking action is thus particularly strong in the transport sector. Fortunately, there are tremendous opportunities in Africa to set positive trends in motion, from the development of infrastructure projects that promote active mobility to the encouragement of African electric-vehicle production. These and other measures can lead to a decoupling of vehicle emissions from economic growth.

Against this backdrop, Agora Verkehrswende and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) have launched the Rethinking Transport project. The aim of the project is to develop an independent network of actors in the public and private sectors dedicated to furthering discourse on climate-neutral transport. Informed by the desire to promote diverse perspectives and enable collaboration in and between African nations, the network will embrace a wide range of organizations and institutes across the African continent, including representatives from the domains of politics, business, academia, and civil society.
An important springboard for the project is a discussion paper authored by Agora Verkehrswende and GIZ in collaboration with African and European experts in June 2023. Titled “Leapfrogging to Sustainable Transport in Africa – Twelve Insights into the Continent’s Sector Transformation”, the paper emphasizes the importance of including local experts in the development of solutions for the African continent.

Building on this paper, GIZ with the support of Agora Verkehrswende are hosting the Rethinking Transport Labs, which provide a space for developing start-up projects specially geared for implementation in Africa (see infobox). In addition, Agora Verkehrswende is hosting the Agora Sustainable Transport Fellowship, a four-week training program in Berlin. Six to eight young transport-sector professionals from across the African continent take part in the fellowship. The participants engage with specialists at Agora Verkehrswende and with renowned external experts, collaborating to develop strategies that will further transport policy discourse in their home countries. The fellowship program will be held twice in 2024 (in Feb/March and Aug/Sep).

Additional information regarding the Agora Sustainable Transport Fellowship and the application process can be found in the infobox to the right.