Over 1.1 million Africans are estimated to have died in 2019 as a result of air pollution caused by the transportation sector. In this piece, Etta Michael Bisong discusses the Green Waka New Mobility Africa Campaign’s (GW NMAC) impact on sustainable transport, with a focus on the Lopifit electric walking bike, and how stakeholders can collaborate to implement it as a solution to reduce carbon emissions and boost long-term climate action across the continent
Introduction
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) acknowledges the significance of active travel and mobility in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and human reliance on fossil fuels, as well as mitigating climate change. Active travel and mobility offer numerous benefits for individuals, communities, and the environment.
For instance, engaging in regular physical activity can help avoid obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Active walking and cycling also contribute to better mental health by lowering depression, anxiety, and stress. It also helps to build muscle and enhance flexibility, which boosts strength.
Despite their various gains, it is unfortunate that a study performed by the Partnership for Active Travel and Health (PATH) revealed that walking and cycling have not received sufficient attention as key components of the climate emergency response. The report discovered that only a quarter of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) include active travel, despite the fact that 56% of countries have a walking policy and 22% have a cycling policy.
These gaps inspired the Green Waka New Mobility Africa Campaign (GW-NMAC), which aimed to encourage countries to prioritise walking and cycling in their NDCs and national policies. The programme focused on championing infrastructural development, active travel campaigns, land use planning, integration with public transport, and capacity building. It also seeks to highlight the significance of safe and accessible walking and cycling infrastructure, particularly in urban areas.
Green Waka New Mobility Africa Campaign
According to Rob van Ooijen, co-founder of Walkingbike/BV, the GW NMAC is a game changer for sustainable transportation in Africa, with Lopifit, the first-ever manufactured electric walking bike, at the forefront of this transformation.
Ooijen, who made the statement on Thursday, January 30, 2025, at this year’s Business Day Ambassador Conference held in the Netherlands, hailed the Lopifit walking e-bike as a practicable alternative to traditional fossil fuel-powered vehicles. With its innovative design and eco-friendly features, he added that the e-bike is an ideal solution for Africa’s metropolitan mobility challenges.
“The Lopifit is a unique means of transport. You are able to get around like you never did before! An easy stroll and still reaching speeds of up to 25 km per hour. A true revolution,” he stated.
Some of the ambassadors he met and spoke with during the conference, including those from Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Benin, commended the project’s benefits in terms of health, safety, and environmental protection.
During a sideline engagement meeting and presentation of the project’s brief to Michel Deelen, Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nigeria, he stated that the initiative would require collaboration from governments, development organisations, and the private sector.
Other diplomats, including Joris Jurriëns, who is in charge of Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea; Jeroen Verheul, who oversees Ghana; and Jeroen Kelderhuis, who is in control of Ivory Coast, urged that the campaign concentrates on image building because of cultural barriers, especially in Ghana, where cycling is seen as a low-income and impoverished activity. They also suggest that the campaign should focus on ways to facilitate the development of policies and infrastructure in order to achieve its ultimate goal of accelerating climate action.
Speaking on the project implementation plan, Green Waka’s co-founder and leader, Michael Mbaike, stated that his organisation is committed to cooperating with any interested body to make walking and cycling in African countries safer, healthier, and more comfortable.
Mbaike commended the various regional and international initiatives and historic accomplishments of groups like the Partnership for Active Travel and Health (PATH), the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI), and the Pan African Action Plan for Active Mobility (PAAPAM) for promoting active travel, walking, and cycling as essential elements of climate solutions and making sure that countries include them in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
“Our primary goal is to promote sustainable and active transport, which prioritises active mobility (walking and cycling) to account for over 50 percent of the mobility mix, enabling an environmentally friendly, socially just, and economically viable life for all,” he said.
He guaranteed that his establishment, a communication-oriented platform that advocates, educates, and protects environmental rights, will offer its expertise to help make sure the GW NMAC plan is carried out successfully.
“We will offer our best-designed campaign for the course and goal,” Mbaike assured.
In the same vein, Chris Brunet, International Relations Manager at the Dutch Cycling Embassy (DCE), one of the partnering organistions to the GW NMAC, praised Green Waka for initiating the project, describing it as extremely strategic, given that a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) policy report revealed that over one billion people in Africa Walk and cycle every day.
Like the previous speakers, he voiced his frustration over the absence of clear policies to promote active mobility habits, which still plague the sector’s need for funding to support infrastructure development.
“This project will activate the invisible and silent majority, as well as empower them to demand change from their elected officials and policymakers,” Brunet said, during a discussion on the campaign execution.
Conclusion
To be honest, in order for Africa to have a sustainable transport future, governments, businesses, and civil society organisations must work together to promote the use of non-motorised modes of transportation and other eco-friendly mobility options, such as the Lopifit e-bike.
Stakeholders must also explore new funding sources to support the construction of sustainable transport infrastructure and promote cross-border collaboration to exchange best practices, knowledge, and skills for boosting green mobility.
With a well-thought-out collaborative strategy, Africa can create a more sustainable, efficient, and environmentally responsible transportation infrastructure for future generations.