Considering the rapid increase in urbanisation, and the notion that 50% of Africans will live in cities by 2030, it is now more important than ever for Africa to implement smarter mobility to match the needs of the rising population. This will assist in increasing access to safe, reliable and affordable transportation options that can connect people to jobs, education and health services – all without increasing congestion, carbon emissions or air pollution.
“To accelerate the adoption of smarter mobility across the continent, we are launching the inaugural Smarter Mobility Africa summit at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit & International Convention Centre on 1 and 2 October 2019,” says Ben Pullen, Co-founder and CEO of Generation.e.
The event, hosted in partnership with the Department of Transport and Gauteng Provincial Government, provides an opportunity for the public and private sectors to come together to navigate a smart, electric, better-connected and low-carbon mobility future.
Explaining why initiatives such as this are increasing in importance, Gauteng Provincial Government says: “Whilst there are many policies aimed at encouraging the use of electric vehicles and other forms of smarter mobility, there remains a gap between the policies and the implementation thereof. There also seems to be cross-cutting initiatives between the different government departments, the private sector and non-government organisations. Smarter Mobility Africa is the perfect platform to understand each other’s roles as well as to share and receive expert information and advice on the subject.”
Roger Atkins, founder of Electric Vehicles Outlook Ltd (UK) will be one of the MCs at the event, with speakers including: Smart Electricity Analyst at GreenCape, Khanyiselo Kumalo; Director and Managing Director of Emerging Markets & Africa at Deloitte, Dr Martyn Davies; Blind adventurer, Hein Wagner; Author, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Ensight Pty Ltd, Francis Barram; Founder at Plug Me In Travel, Wiebe Wakker; Director at uYilo, Hiten Parmar; and Founder and CEO of Opibus (Kenya), Filip Gardler.
The talks will unpack key issues such as the need for integrated and large-scale deployment of clean mass transit for cities; the future of the automotive industry; infrastructure required for smarter mobility; and measures to combat air pollution and climate change from the transport sector, amongst many others.
“It is our hope that smarter mobility will no longer be a misnomer, especially with the new knowledge that will be shared throughout the event,” says the Department of Transport.
Delegates will have access to the exhibition, talks, test drives of electric vehicles on the track, and the launch of the very first Electric Vehicle Road Trip Africa (EVRT Africa), which will see 12 state-of-the-art electric vehicles embarking on an epic adventure from Johannesburg to Cape Town to showcase the cars’ power and capabilities as well as South Africa’s readiness to embrace electric travel.
