Paper short abstract:

Challenging the dichotomous view between North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, this paper examines human mobility via “intra”-Saharan trade, focusing on the Suwāfa living in and around the Sūf region located in the central Sahara (today’s Eastern Algeria).

Paper long abstract:

Challenging the dichotomous view between North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, this paper examines human mobility via “intra”-Saharan trade, focusing on the Suwāfa living in and around the Sūf region located in the central Sahara (today’s eastern Algeria). It has been widely accepted that the “trans”-Saharan trade had long been connecting two Africa-s. According to this narrative, as France conquered Alger in 1830 and expanded her territory into the Desert, caravans departing from the Sahel avoided passing through Algeria. Thus, this colony has mostly been left off the historiography of the trans-Saharan trade. Recent Saharan studies, however, point out the limitedness of traditional frameworks and call for constructing the Saharan history by capturing the internal dynamics of the Desert. Drawing upon the colonial archives, travelogues, and commercial letters, this paper investigates the Suwāfa’s intra-Saharan trade in colonial situation, and thereby sheds light on their position in the social dynamics of the mid-nineteenth century central Sahara. The Suwāfa have exported their local manufactures to major Saharan entrepôts Ghadāmis and Ghāt (today’s western Libya) and purchased there Sahelian goods such as slaves and ostrich feathers, some of which have been transported to Mediterranean markets. By contrast, the French expansion of territory resulted in the annexation of Sūf in 1854. Finally, this paper reveals how the Suwāfa transformed their trade routes and trading items vis-à-vis the French colonial authorities, with an aim to locate their case in a broader context of the Saharan history.

Paper short abstract:

By investigating professional and social exclusion at Rhodesia Railways, this research article shows how African railwaymen and their kin navigated this thoroughly exclusive workspace.

Paper long abstract:

This research article investigates in how far African railway workers and their families were able to participate in Rhodesia Railways, the largest transport infrastructure in colonial Zambia and Zimbabwe between 1945-1964. Participation and access as understood here focus on two key areas: the workplace and the home which were both highly regulated and striated. The 'Colour Bar' on the Rhodesia Railways prevented African railwaymen from taking up skilled and semi-skilled jobs before 1959. Additionally, Rhodesia Railways´ policies on employing female workers meant that almost no African women had access to formal employment on the Railways. Outside of work, an unofficial 'Social Bar' existed and access to so-called African Railway compounds, Villages and Townships was regulated by a combination of laws and Railway regulations. African railwaymen and their kin continuously worked with, against and around these restrictions. These responses to exclusion ranged from a political to the private level.

Paper short abstract:

My contribution is a social history of infrastructure development (Sendaro 1987; Monson 2011). I look at the labour relations of the “infrastructural hurry” (Grace 2022) that characterised the construction and operation of Africa’s longest oil pipeline from Dar es Salaam to Ndola, 1967–1985.

Paper long abstract:

My contribution is a social history of infrastructure development (Sendaro 1987; Monson 2011). I look at the labour relations of the “infrastructural hurry” (Grace 2022) that characterised the construction and operation of Africa’s longest oil pipeline from Dar es Salaam to Ndola, 1967–1985. The Zambian leadership aimed to re-connect the country’s fuel supply for good, disrupted after a trade war with neighbouring Rhodesia. I am explaining how and with what consequences more than 1000 workers and engineers from Zambia, Tanzania and Italy completed the project within only 15 months. Specifically, I am examining the origins of rapid and massive development of leaks over the first 17 years after the construction.

The research is based on reports, minutes of meetings and correspondence from the pipeline operator, a consulting engineer and a development bank. I show that flaws and mishaps at the construction contributed to pitting corrosion. The ensuing pipeline leaks were arguably in part an aftermath of a rushed construction which only a comprehensive rehabilitation could remedy. Picking up where high level political and economic analysis left off (Scotto 2022; Chongo 2015; Cohen 2014), the study closely looks at the work processes of infrastructure development on the ground. Centering on debates on development and sustainability (Li 2007; Unger et al. 2022; Swilling 2020), the study of this African oil pipeline project contributes to the understanding of transport technology and its creation in African contexts (INTRA 2023).

Paper short abstract:

By focusing on women's (in)mobilities observed in Lower Casamance (Senegal), this paper underlines the importance of addressing displacement from a gender perspective, linking it to the role of providers of many women in their households.

Paper long abstract:

This paper presents part of the results of a research carried out between 2018 and 2020 on the klando system of unlicensed collective taxis operating in Lower Casamance (Senegal). Starting from the observation that the majority of users of this and other unlicensed transport alternatives are women, the aim is to address the singularity of women's (in)mobilities in this region. Firstly, a historicisation of the permanence and role of many women during the years of armed conflict in the area will be presented. This fact shapes unique forms of inter-regional female mobility, associated with the central role of many women as stable providers for many households. Secondly, we will describe some of the main forms of displacement that women engage in. These include the informal trade ('bana-bana') in fruit, vegetables, oil, alcohol and household goods, among others, which many women carry out between rural enclaves and Ziguinchor but also between their area of residence and Guinea Bissau. The aim is not only to point out the importance of addressing inter-regional and cross-border movements from a gender perspective, but also to do so taking into account the way in which they constitute a fundamental source of resources that guarantee the reproduction of a large part of the domestic units.

Paper short abstract:

Using actor theory and action resources, this paper discusses the reactions and action resources of actors in the local taxi industry in Abidjan to the emergence of e-hailing applications that disrupt the taxi industry in Abidjan.

Paper long abstract:

The emergence of e-hailing platforms in African cities has disrupted the local taxi industries. These transformations are taking place in a context where the taxi industries themselves in African cities are failing to provide a quality transport service to city dwellers. The local taxi industry perceives this as unfair and unfair competition. How do local taxi industry stakeholders (drivers, car owners, unions, owner and driver associations, regulators) react to the emergence of e-hailing platforms and what resources do they mobilise? Abidjan, where there is a taxi industry embedded in both the political and transport landscape, and where Uber and Yango offer their services, is used as the field. This work is based on first-hand data collected between April and May 2022 from different categories of actors: VTC companies, local taxi drivers' associations and unions, and regulators (AMUGA, Ministry of Transport, transport department of the autonomous district of Abidjan). The results reveal that all the actors in the industry have regulated in a differentiated way according to the political (mobilisation), technological (implementation of an application, adoption of mobile money), relational (network of relations with politicians) and material (renewal of the vehicle fleet) resources available to them with the aim of ensuring the sustainability of an industry that suffers from service gaps.

Paper short abstract:

Electric vehicles are starting to enter the market in Kenya in the context of micro-mobility and can become an effective solution to decarbonising the growing motorcycle taxi sector and reducing its wider socio-economic and environmental impacts on the Kenyan urban and transport systems.

Paper long abstract:

The use of motorcycles for commercial purposes has been steadily increasing in African cities over the last three decades and Kenya is rapidly catching up in terms of the number of motorcycle vehicles compared to other African Countries. Such an increase in the number of vehicles poses significant questions about the wider impacts that motorcycle taxis will have on the transport system of Kenyan cities, especially in terms of increased air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions generated. Electric mobility is gaining significant attention as a key technology to reduce air pollution and contribute to decarbonising the transport sector, with consequent environmental, economic and social impacts.

Local actors were involved through a set of focus groups, key informant interviews and a stakeholder engagement workshop to explore benefits, barriers and gaps in policies related to the transition to e-mobility of the sector. Findings indicate that main opportunities and barriers belong to the socio-economic and environmental dimensions, with operational cost savings and tackling air pollution as key elements. Main concerns in gaps in existing policies related to the finance and incentives aspects of reducing the upfront costs of both operators/providers and drivers. Similarly, concerns emerged regarding charging infrastructure, battery standards and battery end-of-life and e-waste processes. Finally, motorcycle taxi organisations and representatives need to be considered major stakeholders of the process and provided with more inclusive platforms to contribute and co-design policies helping the transition to e-mobility in Kenya.

Paper short abstract:

The paper examines the factors that influenced cycling as well as the potential uniqueness of cycling cultures such as personal mobility option, waste recycling artefact, commuter alternative, intra-urban goods transit and as trading machines which helped urbanites in their quest for survival.

Paper long abstract:

In 1976, the government of Tanzania commenced the construction of the only bicycle factory ever built in Eastern and Central Africa. While the decision to establish the factory was made as part of the national industrialisation drive, the state and media capitalised on the project as an environmentally and healthily sustainable mobility solution in the midst of the global oil shortage and local urban mobility crises. With much of Tanzania largely rural, Dar es Salaam was at the heart of brimming urbanism, bicycle making as well as the promotion of daily cycling to and from work places. The promotion cycling came after almost 6 decades of importation bicycles and spare parts from United Kingdom and India. This paper explores cycling experiences from Dar es Salaam city by examining the factors that influenced cycling as well as the potential uniqueness of cycling cultures such as personal mobility option, waste recycling artefact, commuter alternative, intra-urban goods transit and as trading machines which helped urbanites in their quest for survival. As such, this paper navigates the dynamics of cycling between urban society, state and economy in a global south urbanity from the 1920s to the recent past. It identifies non-conventional bicycle usage, thus contributing to the appropriation stories stemming from Africa and other parts of the Global South.

Paper short abstract:

Boda-Boda motorcycle taxis are a popular yet dangerous and inefficient form of public transport for Kampala. This article examines how their political mobilization shields them from taxation and regulation in Uganda and prevents innovation within the public transport sector.

Paper long abstract:

Over the last decade, city authorities and state institutions repeatedly announced the abolishment of “Boda-Boda” motorcycle taxis in Uganda’s capital Kampala. However, until today, no attempt to implement a ban on this popular form of public transport has been successful. While the number of motorcyclists continues to rise, urban planners remain frustrated over the lack of political commitment towards improving the public transport system. Due to the unhindered mobility their motorcycles provide, Boda-Bodas have become a politically valuable resource. Both the government and opposition parties compete for their favour to utilize this potential within large-scale mobilization strategies. To achieve their political goals they also continuously attempt to integrate as many riders as possible into party affiliated structures. Consequently, riders and political actors have formed close ties and mutual dependencies that are further strengthened through overlapping affiliations and large investments into the Boda-Boda sector. While these interdependencies politicize the sector, they also help to ensure the persistence of motorcycle taxis as a central element of public transport in Kampala and prevent major reforms. Based on fieldwork conducted between 2018 and 2022 this paper therefore argues that continuous political competition for the support of Boda-Boda riders in Uganda has resulted in patronage networks that ultimately secure the status quo in Kampala’s transport system. By outlining the political role of Boda-Boda riders in Kampala it aims to widen the understanding of the political dimension of public transport providers in competitive electoral systems in Africa and the mobilities and immobilities it produces.