MobiliseYourCity Africa programme

Globally, the transportation sector generates about 25% of greenhouse gas emissions, 40% of which are due to urban transportation. The explosion of the urban population and the rise in the standard of living create a very strong increase in the demand for urban mobility estimated at 140% between 2000 and 2050, 90% of which will come from developing countries. These trends are particularly marked in Africa, which experienced the second highest growth in emissions from the transport sector (+ 84%) between 2000 and 2016. The investment needs in infrastructure of African cities are considerable and the external costs linked to unsustainable urban transport (poor access to employment, air pollution, road insecurity, congestion, GHG emissions) greatly degrade the economy and the quality of life of these cities. The African continent is also lagging behind in the adoption of coherent, efficient and sustainable urban mobility policies, but also in the adoption of emission reduction measures (management of transport demand, transport systems mass urban, progressive elimination of polluting engines, electric mobility, etc.).

The aim of the Program is to promote the definition of integrated, multimodal and coherent sectoral policies - at the level of cities as well as of states - to accelerate the transition of beneficiary countries towards sustainable and low-carbon urban mobility, as well as its translation into projects priority. Its specific objectives - which are in line with those of the global MYC partnership, are: (i) strengthening the capacity of the actors involved in developing national policies and local plans for sustainable mobility; (ii) supporting partner cities in the development or improvement of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP); (iii) supporting partner countries for the development or improvement of National Urban Mobility Policy (NUMP); (iv) consolidation of structures enabling the animation and governance of the global MYC partnership and the implementation of the MYC Africa program.

Since its implementation, MobiliseYourCity Africa has benefited from an envelope of about € 8 million, jointly contributed by FFEM (French Facility for Global Environment), the European Union through its Intra-ACP instrument (European Development Fund) and the French Development Agency, AFD. The countries which benefited from a support in the development of National Urban Mobility policies are Morocco and Tunisia. The cities of Douala and Yaoundé have benefited from technical and financial support for the development of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans, which were completed in 2019. With the same purpose, Casablanca, Kenitra, Khouribga, Oujda and Rabat (in Morocco) and Dakar (Senegal) are currently being supported under FFEM funding; Bouaké (Côte d´Ivoire) and Dire Dawa (Ethiopia), under EU funding; and Kumasi (Ghana) and Maputo (Mozambique) under AFD funding.

The MYC Steering Committee has already received and validated several African applications (the cities of Abidjan, Antananarivo, Lomé, Ouagadougou and Niamey; and the countries of Togo and Uganda), which are currently awaiting funding. Other active prospects may follow in the medium term.