Velo-city 2024
This special Africa session is hosted by the Africa Urban Cycling Organization in collaboration with the UN habitat and Ochenuell Mobility. The session will hold on the Velo-city main stage at 12noon on 19th June, 2024
Session Description
African cities are facing unprecedented mobility concerns arising from sustained population growth and urbanization in the face of infrastructure deficits and limited resources for development. With the rapid urbanization, there's immense competition among land uses for suitable locations and the resultant accessibility needs and modes of transport. Furthermore, many cities are locked due to traffic congestion and transport cost is telling a lot on the slim family resources. Amidst all these, climate crises and road fatalities present serious concerns, affecting road users. This requires critical attention, beyond facilitating motorization in African cities. The bicycle represents the potential game change in the midst of the above, if given the right attention, partnerships, investment and conducive environment to thrive. A number of cities are making commendable efforts worth emulating. How can we strengthen political will and funding as well as leverage on existing efforts to surmount the challenges that current practices options present? The session will also discuss how partners can collaborate to make Africa Urban Cycling Organization a veritable platform for mainstreaming cycling on the continent.
Timing of the Session
| Activity | Time | Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction and welcome | 5 mins | Jordi Bosch Pla |
| Brief about AUCO and the session theme in perspective | 15 mins | Emmanuel John |
| Moderated panel session with audience participation | 45 mins | All speakers |
Speakers
Emmanuel John
Emmanuel John is the President, Africa Urban Cycling Organisation, an umbrella body of cycling NGOS, civil society, and other stakeholders in Africa, he is also a Board member/Vice President (Africa) of the World Cycling Alliance, and a former Board Member of the Cycling Federation of Nigeria.
At home, Emmanuel is the CEO of Ochenuell Mobility which coordinates the Africa Sustainable Urban Mobility Course, European Sustainable Transport Study Tours and Open Streets Abuja initiative. He is the national coordinator of activities marking the World Bicycle Day in Nigeria and host of the Capital City Cycling Championship. Emmanuel is a sustainable transport and road safety expert with 26 years of experience in urban transport and traffic safety both at government, private sector and NGO levels.
Emmanuel is the project manager of the ongoing Safer Streets for Cyclists and Pedestrians in Nigeria, a UN Road Safety Trust Fund Project, and the World Bank Lead consultant for the World Bank's National Urban Mobility Plan for Nigeria. He is an author of 9 books and currently a Transport Planning PhD candidate at the University of Portharcourt, Nigeria with research focus on determinants of perception of cycling mode choice in Nigeria.
Manuel A. Alculete Lopes de Araújo
Manuel A. Alculete Lopes de Araújo is the Mayor of the City of Quelimane, Mozambigue. (born 11 October 1970) is a Mozambican politician who has been Mayor of Quelimane since December 2011.
In 2011, de Araújo ran as the RENAMO candidate in municipal elections in Quelimane, defeating the FRELIMO candidate with 62.27% of the vote. In a subsequent election in 2013, the FRELIMO candidate was named as the winner; however, after allegations of voter fraud were raised, an investigation subsequently determined that de Araújo had won the election wad remained the Mayor of Quelimane.
During the 2023 municipal elections, de Araújo was arbitrarily detained by police officers after visiting polling stations, with the police accusing him of "disturbing" the vote-counting process. He was released a few hours later without charge.
Sheila Uwase
Sheila Uwase is a civil engineer passionate about urban transport planning. She is currently the Coordinator of the Single Project Implementation Unit at the City of Kigali, and has been involved in the planning and implementation of various transport projects in Kigali city. Kigali city is known for its ambitious goals to be a city of urban excellence and green transport. She has worked on urban mobility improvement projects including the Kigali BRT feasibility study, road construction projects, public transport improvement, traffic management and green mobility initiatives. She has worked on pedestrian and cycling infrastructure development in Kigali that encourage multimodal integration. She holds a bachelors degree in Civil Engineering and a Masters degree in Infrastructure planning and development.
Amanda Ngabirano
Ms Amanda A. Ngabirano is an urban and regional planner. She is the Chairperson, National Physical Planning Board, the highest body responsible for physical planning in Uganda. Notably, she is a lecturer at Makerere University, with a special interest in linking research and practice for real change within the local context. She studied Bachelor of Urban Planning at Makerere University, and a Master of Science in Urban and Regional Planning and Development, at Saxion University, Netherlands, and University of Greenwich, United Kingdom. She has particular interest in urban mobility and its obvious informalities in East African cities. Because of this, Amanda has been engaged in several urban mobility projects in various capacities. She has also conducted research on informality and transport complexities, urban mobility integration, modal split, clean mobility, road safety and quality of public space in Kampala, in partnership with other local and international researchers. Her understanding of the local land use, social and mobility context places her in a good position to aide the process of relevant, inclusive and meaningful planning, and this is evidenced in projects where she has been involved by various entities; for instance, the Namirembe-Luwuum active mobility green corridor. She has coordinated, supervised and monitored the delivery of several project deliverables, and has established a good working relationship with key national and local planning authorities in Uganda. She recently coordinated the regional urban mobility project for sustainable and inclusive transport, which was implemented in Kenya and Uganda. She is great at networking and forming synergies, given her exposure, the multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional nature of her profession and her rich experience.
She is also the chairperson, Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area Urban mobility consultative Forum, a forum aimed at preparing the current public transport providers for the planned public transport improvements. Among other related engagements, she was also the local coordinator for the High-Volume Transport research, targeting vulnerable road users, in partnership with the University of York, SEI, UNEP, and Zambia Road Safety Agency. She's currently coordinating the Old Taxi Park mobility project in Kampala, funded by the Dutch government. Lastly, she is Uganda's Madam bicycle.
Jordi Bosch Pla
Jordi is an expert on urban mobility with an MSc in Urban Planning and a BSc in Civil Engineering. Currently based in Nairobi, Kenya, he works at UN-Habitat, where he engages closely with local and national governments and supports them in developing sustainable mobility strategies. His main topics of expertise are active mobility, road safety, and mode integration, with extensive experience in pilot implementation, mobility assessments, and capacity-building initiatives. Through his career efforts and passion for cycling, he has been dedicated to driving positive change in urban environments and creating safer, more inclusive, and people-centred cities. He cycles every day to work and welcomes everyone to do the same.
Betelihem Taddesse
Senior Expert and Team Leader of Public and NMT (Non-Motorized Transport) Study team, under Addis Ababa City Administration Transport Bureau. Having +3years of experience as Lecturer at Higher Academic Institutes in Ethiopia, +6Years to date working on Construction supervision, material selection, evaluation and project coordination on Design and Construction of Car Parking Building Projects as an Infrastructure Development Senior Expert, TOT Workshop host on Safe Cycling development in Addis Ababa, Panelist on Essentials of Road safety Engineering International Workshop by World Bank and the 9th Sustainable Urban Mobility Course at Lagos, National Contact Person of Ethiopia for Empower Project by UKAID and Focal person and representative for Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI) Project under Addis Ababa Transport Programs management Office and City Administration Transport Bureau. Betelhem is a Civil Engineer (MSc Transport Engineer)