Scania, the Sweden-headed engine, bus, and truck manufacturer, has announced that it has signed an agreement with the Côte d’Ivoire Ministry of Transport and SOTRA, the Abidjan Transport Company, to deliver 450 compressed gas (CNG) powered buses. The bus delivery forms part of a major initiative to upgrade SOTRA’s fleet and improve public transport in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Scania will supply 400 low-entry 13-metre buses and 50 18-metre articulated buses, bodybuilt by Marcopolo. The articulated buses will be fuelled by compressed gas (CNG). The agreement includes upgrading bus depots and vocational training of drivers and service technicians.
With this agreement, Scania further strengthens its position in West Africa as a provider of sustainable solutions for urban mobility. Over the past few years, Scania has successfully participated in improving urban mobility in Ghana and Nigeria. Based on that experience, we now look forward to a long-term partnership in providing better public transport services also in Abidjan, said Anna Carmo e Silva, Head of Buses and Coaches at Scania.
The buses will partly be deployed on the Boulevard Latrille Bus Rapid Transit system, which will form part of a future BRT system in Abidjan.
Developing public transport in Abidjan
It is estimated that the population of Greater Abidjan will increase to 7.7 million by 2030. By expanding public transport services through BRT, the aim is that two-thirds of the residents in 2030 will have access to the city centre within an hour.
A group of Swedish and French companies and institutions are presently engaged in sustainable public transport initiatives in Abidjan. Team Sweden with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Business Sweden, Swedfund, the Swedish Export Credit Agency (EKN), and the Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK), have supported with capacity building and financing.
In 2016 Swedfund, the Swedish Development Finance Institution funded a feasibility study for the introduction of a modern and integrated public transport system in Abidjan. Swedfund’s partner was the Ivorian Ministry of Transport, but several other Swedish stakeholders also contributed to the project.
The development plan took about six months to develop and a team with different specialist skills participated. The preliminary study identified both measures that were implemented immediately, but also more long-term and comprehensive measures.
With these strategic partnerships and joint efforts, we can contribute to finding sustainable, innovative and attractive solutions for Côte d’Ivoire and other countries in the region, said Ylva Berg, CEO & President, Business Sweden.
Biofuels feasibility study
Based on the feasibility study, comprehensive development of the public transport system in Abidjan has now been initiated and investment is being made to develop and expand the public transport system in the city with Scania’s buses.
In parallel Scania, in collaboration with Agence Nationale d’Appui au Développement Rural (ANADER), initiated a biofuels feasibility study also funded by Swedfund as part of the overall public transport feasibility study.
The study, which is to be presented to stakeholders in early 2020, aims, to assess the opportunities for producing local biofuels from agricultural waste from cocoa, rubber and banana cultivation – Côte d’Ivoire is by far the world’s largest cocoa producer. These biofuels could be used to fuel the buses in a circular economy approach.
Côte d’Ivoire has demonstrated impressive economic growth these latest years and has now started investing in a stronger infrastructure for continued growth. This is evidence of the higher investment activity I see in the whole region of West Africa with increased attention from Swedish companies, said Anthonia Adenaya Huard, Regional Director for West Africa at Business Sweden who has been working with this collaboration since 2015.
