Smarter Mobility Africa Summit to look at how climate change affects transportation

Smarter Mobility Africa Summit (SMA) is taking place on October 5-7 at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria.

In a partnership with the Gauteng provincial department of roads and transport and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the summit's mission is to unlock full economic, social, and environmental opportunities in Africa, according to Ben Pullen, founder and chair of Smarter Mobility Africa. The three-day summit will help facilitate the integration of direct and indirect mobility stakeholders.

Moreover, the audience will be exposed to an immersive world of mobility ideas and innovations, and attract and drive investments in Africa for start-ups, SMEs, corporations and governments. The summit also features a collaboration between Smarter Mobility Africa and Arigo Investments to showcase the latest start-ups in the mobility industry. 

The event marks the African Mobility Month and SA October Transport Month through a full-scale in-person event covering every aspect of the mobility industry, from public transport to electric vehicles and battery tech, data, mapping, and urban logistics

Gauteng MEC for public transport and roads infrastructure Jacob Mamabolo says: “The Smarter Mobility Africa summit is a great opportunity to learn about electric power technologies, digitalisation, and automation. We are motivated to transform lives and thrive through these technologies.”

Climate change pressures are expected to be reduced by smarter mobility, transport minister Fikile Mbalula said.

“The World Bank suggests that transport in the near future will be characterised by being connected, data-driven, shared, on-demand, electric and highly automated,” he says.

“The event also presents an opportunity to share information on success and failure in the transport sector across Africa and worldwide. The goal is to inspire the continent to build an even smarter mobility Africa and make this the best decade of mobility and life enhancement ever.”

Some of the global speakers at the summit include Western Cape minister of mobility Daylin Mitchell; founder of Electric Drive Africa Dr Remeredzai Kuhudzai; co-founder of Mobility Centre for Africa, Victor Radebe; Chris Kost, director of the Institute for Transport and Development Policy’s African programme; Mzikhona Mgedle, the MD of Langa Bicycle Hub; and Edem Foli, the programme manager at uYilo e-mobility.