Historically, the urban transport sector in many African cities has been overwhelmingly dominated by men. Only a minority of women, if any, ventured into the provision of transport services. When doing so, they were faced with a myriad of barriers, including challenging training conditions, situations of harassment and difficulties to operate in a safe environment. To address this key issue, SOLUTIONSPlus decided to proactively use the e-mobility transition in Kigali (Rwanda) to address the specific situation of women.
Together with Ampersand and GIZ Rwanda, the SOLUTIONSplus partners in Kigali jointly implemented a project to facilitate the involvement of women as drivers of electric motorcycle taxis. Thanks to the support of Urban Pathways, the women-led organization Flone Initiative conducted an initial analysis of the conditions for gender-inclusive projects to succeed. Several enabling facets were identified and implemented, such as ad-hoc driving training, specific conditions for the practical test, and financial support to access the electric motorcycles. This encompassing approach enables a driving test success rate of 69%, much higher than previous gender-inclusive projects.
On the 15th of November, 24 electric motorcycles were handed over to the women, who will now join the moto-taxi industry. SOLUTIONSplus partners will continue to monitor their activities, pursue further research on barriers faced by women, and discuss with external partners to identify conditions to scale up gender-inclusive e-mobility efforts in the long run.
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