Cutting African road deaths with better safety measures

Using better safety measures will help cutting African road deaths.
By MJ Woof March 16, 2020 Read time: 2 mins
Africa’s rural roads present different safety hazards – image © courtesy of Mike Woof

A partnership programme administered by the World Bank is aiming to cut road deaths worldwide. The Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) is a global multi-donor fund aimed at helping governments develop road safety management capacity and scale up road safety delivery in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

As part of an agreement with the Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF), Total Foundation says it will be supporting the African Road Safety Observatory by helping to implement a range of training programs targeting different local stakeholders.

The project is intended to help countries like Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda analyse available data to identify issues and deliver road safety strategies.

This is an important move and according to the Total Foundation, According to the World Health Organization’s latest report, Africa remains the region with the highest road-accident fatality rate in the world. Road crashes are the number one cause of death among young people aged 5-29.

The African Road Safety Observatory (ARSO) was established in 2018 as part of the projects supported by the FIA High Level Panel, whose members include Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Total.

The Observatory’s mission is to encourage a coordinated effort on the part of African countries to ensure greater road safety. In particular, it aims to collect, analyse and share data to provide a better understanding of the risk factors and to develop effective solutions for reducing the number of accidents across the continent.

Training programmes offered by the GRSF will aim to improve the understanding of the challenges faced, as well as strengthen the skills and commitment of all stakeholders, to support the use of data collection and analysis tools on the ground. The goal is to enable decision-making based on reliable information, while fostering collaboration across the continent.

According to the GRSF, this is a key issue to be tackled. Africa’s losses and suffering from road crashes are more serious than for any other continent. In Africa there are over 26 road death/100,000 people/year. This compares with a global average of 18/100,000. The world’s best performing countries have less than 3 deaths/100,000. This is not only a human and social disaster, it also slows down economic growth in African countries.

Road Markings, Barriers & Workzone Protection

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Planning the world's rural transport systems
    February 8, 2012
    China Hosts Major International Convention on Rural Roads. Given the crucial importance of rural roads in the global development context, IRF is according the issue priority focus this year by co-hosting its 2nd International Convention on Rural Roads. This will be convened in Jinan City, Shandong, China, from 26-29 October 2010, in association with the global Transport Knowledge Partnership (gTKP) and the China Highway and Transportation Society (CHTS). Following the landmark success of the inaugural IRF g
    Read More
  • Distracted driving dangers in the US
    June 1, 2023
    Distracted driving and lack of seatbelt use pose dangers in the US.
    Read More
  • Senior ADB figure urges governments to act on sustainable transport
    September 27, 2013
    Multilateral development banks (MDB) are determined to do all they can to encourage governments of developing countries meet key sustainable transport targets, according to a senior figure at one of the world’s biggest MDB’s. Guy Woodford reports Tyrrell Duncan, Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) director of Transport and Communications Division, East Asia has been at the forefront of MDB efforts to enhance sustainable transport and road safety in developing countries. Speaking during a break in talks at the In
    Read More
  • Construction materials and road design in East Africa
    June 25, 2013
    An envisaged shortage in the supply of angular rock or crushed stone in Tanzania and a determination to conserve the environment by Kenyan authorities dictated the engineering design of a multi-national road linking the two largest economies in Eastern Africa. Shem Oirere reports The cost of buying crushed stone or hiring a site for mining the material and the expenses of moving it from the crushing site to the project area, saw designers opt for an intermediate alignment and discarding of the inner and out
    Read More

Highlighted Content