Popular Transport of Goods in Africa: Reality, Needs, & Opportunities for Climate Action

Africa, with its growing integration into technology-intensive industries, abundant raw materials for renewable energy markets, a young, dynamic workforce, and integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), presents a significant potential to emerge as a major force in global supply chains. To capitalize on this potential, there is an urgent need for enhanced efficiency and sustainable growth within Africa’s logistics sector. However, there’s a specific element within this sector that is particularly important for a just transition and is often overlooked in global logistics research: informality.

This knowledge brief delves into the informality within the goods transport sector in Africa. At the time of publication, and due to the informal nature of the sector, there is a significant lack of information on its scale or characteristics. However, the fact that 86% of employment in Africa is considered informal sheds some light on the potential dimensions of informality in this sector as well.

This publication was co-created and jointly published by the Kühne Climate Center and the Global Network for Popular Transportation, a project of the Shared Use Mobility Center. The study benefited from the strategic input and funding of the Kühne Climate Center, with writing and development led by the Global Network for Popular Transportation.

You can find and download the full report here.