The many faces of transport in Africa’s cities and the story they tell about a continent
17 Aug 2015 12:38
Samantha Spooner Mail & Guardian Africa
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Booming urbanisation and planning problems have brought about some innovative ways to get around.
LIKE cities all over the world, Africa’s capitals and towns have an impressive variety of ways to get around if you don’t own a car or bicycle. Some of these transport systems are particularly unique and innovative, cropping up to cope with issues of congestion, the lay-out of the city or booming urbanisation.
Buses are a staple in most cities – but these have been shrinking in size over time, with minibuses (carrying 8-25 passengers) more prevalent than large buses, although some countries are now pushing legislation to force back the bigger carriers.
A reflection of the difficulty in turning profits since smaller buses making about twice as many trips and are easier to manoeuvre through areas of high congestion. According to research by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, the vast majority, about 80%, of public transport trips in Nairobi are carried by unscheduled, shared public transport minibuses.
Nairobi’s “matatus” carry approximately three quarters of Nairobi’s passengers and constitute 36% of traffic volume. Estimates range between matatu capturing 70% and 80% of the public transport market, or 700,000 passengers per day.
This high volume can be seen across the board. The Ministry of Transport in Harare, Zimbabwe, estimates that the minibus fleet there accounted for 90%. There are an estimated 20,000–25,000 matatus in Kampala, Uganda, double the number of officially registered matatus. They have been estimated to employ between 40,000 and 60,000 people.
Minibuses tend to have colloquial names, such as the matatu in Nairobi, the tro-tro in Accra, danfo in Lagos and sotrama in Bamako.
Another mode of transport, born out of a surge in people moving to cities, poor planning which resulted in road congestion, poor traffic flow management and a lack of parking are motorbike taxis. The boom in boda bodas has been very noticeable in Douala, Lagos, Nairobi and Kampala, growing rapidly in the past few years.
In Kampala for example, about 80,000 boda-boda (as they are known in East Africa) serve as the main form of transport and there is estimated to be at least 800,000 trips taken daily. In many cities, like Cotonou in Benin, they can even prove to be a cheaper and faster form of transport than buses.
Increasingly popular and available are the usually three-wheeled cabin cycle, commonly known as the tuk tuk or “bajaj” – after the Indian manufacturer. Bajaj is the largest manufacturer of three-wheelers in the world, turning out about 500,000 per year, half of which stay in the Indian market and half of which are exported overseas.
These three wheelers are highly popular in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and in all major Ethiopian hubs. Trips in a tuk tuk provide more safety than a motorbike and the opportunity to share fares with other passengers.
These are nonetheless very informal ways of getting around. There are also plenty of formal travel options – though these are largely confined to South Africa and North Africa.
In South Africa there are notable urban rail services in the Gauteng metropolitan area that includes Johannesburg and Pretoria.
In Cape Town, suburban commuter rail service remains the dominant mode in the city, supplying some 54% of the daily public transport passenger market.
There are also trams in Africa, though these are found only in the Maghreb region. Egypt’s Alexandria tramway network for example is the oldest one still running in Africa. It consists of 38 stations. It is one of only 3 non-heritage tram systems in the world that use double-deck cars.
Then there are more unique and unusual ways of getting around cities, adapted to the environment and what was available.
In Nigeria for example, canoes are the predominant form of transport in Makoko, a floating settlement in Lagos.
About 250,000 people live in this settlement and each household has a canoe, so hundreds are anchored on the lagoon. The canoes are also used by traders who don’t have shops but will instead spend the day paddling around the community selling their goods.
In Madagascar, a feature of all urban areas are rickshaws, commonly called pousse pousse – meaning “push push”.
This nifty form of transport is typically pulled by a person and the fares can be incredibly low.
Despite all these options, walking continues to come out trumps in many of Africa’s cities. The UN-HABITAT study found that in Nairobi just under half of all trips are made on foot, 46% of people walk in Dar es Salaam, and 42% walk in Harare. Among working adults in Nairobi, just over 65% walk to work whilst among school-going children, 96% walk.
Studies conducted in African cities during 1992–2002 indicate that walking accounts for 70% in Addis Ababa, and 63% in Harare.
As certain African economies boom, cities develop and markets change, it will be interesting to watch how these various choices, and the decision-making processes, evolve over the next 10 years.
Read more from Samantha Spooner
Twitter: @samooner
Taxi rank in Kampala
People, traffic and billboards: Out of home in Africa (From The MediaOnline)
Posted By: Daniel Steynon:
August 18, 2015
In: Out of Home
We have half jokingly described African cities as having three key OOH elements in common: people, traffic, and billboards. A little simplistic but this presents great opportunity for brands, agencies and media owners. Daniel Steyn gives a practical guide to the African market.
The market
Kenya is the largest economy in East Africa, and one of the fastest growing worldwide, with high literacy levels thanks to free primary education since 2003. Availability of accurate and up-to-date OOH data is limited but estimates put the total traditional outdoor advertising market value at US$33.3m, of which Posterscope has a 14% market share. Under and non-measurement of other forms of OOH, similar to South Africa, means the overall integrated OOH market is potentially double this. Notable Posterscope campaigns in the Kenyan market include the first 3D building projection and the first building wrap.
On the western side of the continent, Posterscope Nigeria officially launched in late July this year. Similarly to Kenya, availability of accurate and up-to-date OOH data is limited but estimates put the total traditional outdoor advertising market value at US$105m, of which Posterscope has a 4% market share. In Nigeria the top ten brands account for half of traditional outdoor advertising market spend, four out of the top five are telecoms, while beer brands are very well represented in the top ten.
International media owners are well established in African markets: Alliance Media is active in 23 African markets, Global Outdoor Systems is active in 21 African markets. Continental Outdoor Media, South Africa’s largest media owner, is active in 13 other African countries. Their acquisition by JC Decaux, the largest media owner globally, should come as no surprise. In comparison local media owners can’t be ignored either. For example, Magnate Ventures in Kenya reportedly operate a third of all billboards in the country.
While integrated and innovative OOH is now beginning to establish itself in neighbouring African markets, it would be foolish to think these markets are not advanced or sophisticated in their own way. Digital OOH reportedly accounts for 25% of OOH spend in Nigeria, and the sheer scale of some of their OOH opportunities in Lagos is impressive: 12m x48m and 20m x 30m respectively. Similarly in other markets, digital OOH screens are in place at both roadside and point of sale.
The opportunity
The scope and scale of the opportunity north of South Africa, especially in Nigeria and the East African Community (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda), has been well documented. We’ve seen global brands extending their footprint and battling for market dominance; local brands emerging as regional challengers; agency groups steadily investing in these markets via acquisition and development. All while local and international media owners in the traditional outdoor advertising space, who saw the opportunity early, benefit from market growth.
Unprecedented market growth, against a backdrop of a global economic slowdown, is driving urbanisation and the emergence of a middle class with disposable income which has facilitated the large scale investment in civic infrastructure like public transport systems, intermodal transport nodes, airports and shopping malls. Key urban trends influencing OOH are emerging:
Economic growth and urbanisation is changing consumer travel patterns and shopping habits.
Shopping mall culture is becoming a part of everyday life in the major urban hubs.
Public transport infrastructure is being formalised and developed.
Electricity supply is becoming more reliable, making new technologies more viable.
Traditional outdoor advertising and billboard opportunities have reached a level of saturation and stagnation. Changes in consumer behaviour and the decreasing costs of interactive and digital technologies sees media owners diversifying their portfolios and new OOH opportunities emerging e.g. roadside and point of sale digital screens, transit and shopping mall specific media.
As the emerging middle class moves into the secure bubbles of upgraded public transport, commuting in their own vehicles, airports and shopping malls – it becomes harder for brands to reach them and compete for their consumer spend. This creates demand and opportunity for OOH in these spaces. An exciting prospect given the level of mobile and smartphone adoption in these markets.
Local market expertise
Knowing and understanding how and why markets are suitable for developing business opportunities is important but not a real start. There’s no substitute for in-market experience and expertise. You need to roll up your sleeves and get involved, or work with people who’ve done the hard yards already.
One of the key points of difference that Posterscope operates from is that of better understanding the consumer and their context. It’s therefore crucial that we have experienced and knowledgeable people on the ground in key African markets who understand the intricacies of their market in detail. Relevance, innovation and creativity are centrally important when communicating with the connected consumer. Local insight then becomes critical to delivering effective and engaging OOH.
Local and in-market expertise is crucial to understanding the market status quo and standard business practices. Strategy and planning teams must be able to advise clients on the best course of action with respect to consumer insight, suitable opportunities, innovation, regulatory environment, payment terms, fee structures, timelines and reliable in-market service providers.
This means our Sub-Saharan office based in Cape Town under the direction of Bruce Burgess, works closely with and relies on the Posterscope teams in Lagos and Nairobi under the leadership of Dan Oshodin and George Mugendi respectively. Without them, we’d be lost in a sea of opportunity.
What do you believe the key challenges are in Africa when it comes to Out of Home? Let us know your views in the comments.