Sustainable transport is the target of several of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). MDG3 on health promotes road safety, while MDG7 on energy encourages the promotion of clean energy, particularly with a view to decarbonising mobility. This, in turn, will contribute to the establishment of territories where travel is less polluting and inexpensive, as recommended by SDG11 on sustainable cities.
Kenya, more than other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, has made great strides in this area, setting up electric vehicle assembly plants for start-ups, providing training in eco-responsible driving and drawing up a National Mobility Plan. All these initiatives require political support, but above all funding. To support these significant advances, the Kenyan government has just obtained 60 million dollars.
The grant has been awarded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) as part of the Kenya Threshold programme, which the US government agency had pledged to support in 2019. “This is an important step in the growing partnership between the United States of America and Kenya”, said a delighted President William Ruto at the 78th UN General Assembly, which is closing in New York on 26 September 2023.
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According to Alice Albright, CEO of the MCC, this support should make it possible to acquire Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in response to traffic jams in major cities like Nairobi, but also to achieve MDG5, which aims for gender equality, including in public transport. “The aim is to connect residents of the Kenyan capital to public transport, to combat the omnipresent sexual harassment in minibuses and to modernise land-use planning for all”, says the institution, which is based in Washington DC.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi