Between public transport and traffic jams, do African cities have a choice?

Alstom recommends to African governments, in a report, to develop urban rail. The metro saves money and is much greener.

In many African cities, it is difficult to put into practice the adage “Metro, work, sleep”. Indeed, from Tunis to Abidjan, via Lomé or Kampala, citizens spend most of their time, morning and evening, in traffic jams. The fault, in particular, with a crying lack of infrastructures and effective public transport. However, urban rail could be the ideal solution, according to Alstom. The French multinational specialized in the transport sector has just published a report which shows that metros, trams and urban trains could be very advantageous.

We don't really know, but traffic jams have a cost, especially in terms of unnecessarily wasted fuel. Not to mention the cost of gas emissions for the environment. According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), the cost of congestion would be 19 billion dollars a year in Lagos alone. And $8 billion for Egypt, according to Alstom. The World Bank, for its part, estimates the cost of congestion in Tunisia at 2% of the national GDP. Traffic jams could cost the African continent a total of $488 billion in 2030.

29 million fewer cars every day?

The French company assures him: “A greater investment in urban rail would bring equivalent social and economic benefits, allowing the development of safer, healthier and more inclusive cities. Raising the modal share of rail to 20% by 2050 means 29 million fewer cars on African roads every day, which would lead to a significant reduction in traffic jams, road accidents and pollution of the air ". In addition, according to Alstom, 258 jobs can be created per kilometer of new rail built.

Although Alstom is necessarily campaigning for more kilometers of rail, the multinational relies on an important observation: "The African population is growing rapidly and the continent's rate of urbanization is the highest in the world". Indeed, “the urban population will increase from 600 million in 2021 to more than 1,3 billion in 2050”. And for Alstom, "one of the main challenges is to ensure that this growth is in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal number 11: to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable".

Egypt at the forefront?

Profitable and ecological, therefore, urban rail would be the solution. But why are African cities taking so long to get started? On the occasion of COP27, Alstom recalls that Egypt was the first in Africa to open a metro line in 1987. A country which today has "three operational metro lines, two metro lines to come and two monorail lines under construction”. Enough to allow a reduction of nearly 600 cars per day, traffic jams and carbon emissions.

Still, to develop urban rail, you need real political will. On this side, some countries do not yet seem ready to develop their public transport. The World Bank recently recalled that, for Tunisia, no less than six ministries — Transport, Equipment and Housing, Energy, Finance, Local Authorities, Investment and International Cooperation — were “concerned in various ways by transport urban ». A disorganization that does not allow “users a satisfactory quality of service”.

Encourage managers to opt for rail

So, if urban rail should enable savings, how can leaders understand that they have everything to gain from it? "Urban rail is more affordable than the car and other unofficial private means of transport, which will allow passengers to get to work more easily and access essential services such as education and health" , says Alstom. For users, this would be a very economical solution: Tunisian households, for example, devote nearly 10% of their budget to transport.

“Given the positive effects of rail deployment in African cities, Alstom recommends that governments include urban rail mobility in their local and national development policies to enable long-term planning and secure greater investment” , says the report of the French multinational.