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Africa's top 5 greener transport ideas

March 15, 2019

From using the sun to power taxis to making boats out of plastic bottles, Eco Africa has featured lots of innovative ideas to make transport greener. Here are our top five.

https://p.dw.com/p/3F7De
Ein Boot aus Plastikflaschen in Kamerun
Image: DW

1. Solar taxis

In Ivory Coast, around 80 percent of vehicles are used imports, with many of them spewing out clouds of smoke as they drive down the road. But a fleet of three-wheeled solar-powered taxis are now providing transportation that's much better for the environment.

Less pollution with solar taxis

2. Bamboo bikes

A Ugandan entrepreneur and cycling enthusiast has developed a more sustainable bike with a frame made from fast-growing and readily-available bamboo. Not only are they strong and durable, they are also light.

3. Boats out of plastic bottles

Social entrepreneur Ismael Essome Ebode hit upon a novel idea - making unique boats by tying plastic bottles together. This helps the environment by using bottles that would otherwise choke the country's drainage system.

Cameroon: Building plastic bottle boats

4. Harnessing the sun for e-bikes

In Namibia, SunCycles makes e-bikes that are charged by solar power – it's an ideal solution in one of the sunniest countries in the world, with an average of 300 days of sunshine a year.

Sunny future for e-bikes

5. Smart traffic in Kenya

Kenya's capital, Nairobi, has a huge traffic and air pollution problem. But  Kenyan mobile, web and SMS platform Ma3Route wants to change that with a smart crowd-sourced solution.

Smart traffic in Kenya