COVID-19 and the Motorcycle Taxi Sector in Sub-Saharan African Cities: A Key Stakeholders’ Perspective
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Date
2022-11-28Author
Peters, Krijn
Jenkins, Jack
Ntramah, Simon
Vincent, James
Hayombe, Patrick
Owino, Fredrick
Opiyo, Paul
Johnson, Ted
Santos, Rosemarie
Mugisha, Marion
Chetto, Reginald
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This article assesses the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the urban motorcycle taxi (MCT) sector in Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA). MCToperators in SSA provide essential transport services and have shown ingenuity and an ability to adapt and
innovate when responding to different challenges, including health challenges. However, policymakers and regulators often
remain somewhat hostile toward the sector. The article discusses the measures and restrictions put in place to reduce the
spread of COVID-19 and key stakeholders’ perspectives on these and on the sector’s level of compliance. Primary data were
collected in six SSA countries during the last quarter of 2020. Between 10 and 15 qualitative interviews with key stakeholders
relevant to the urban MCT sector were conducted in each country. These interviews were conducted with stakeholders
based in the capital city and a secondary city, to ensure a geographically broader understanding of the measures, restrictions,
and perspectives. The impact of COVID-19 measures on the MCT and motor-tricycle taxi sector was significant and overwhelmingly
negative. Lockdowns, restrictions on the maximum number of passengers allowed to be carried at once, and
more generally, a COVID-19-induced reduction in demand, resulted in a drop in income for operators, according to the key
stakeholders. However, some key stakeholders indicated an increase in MCTactivity and income because of the motorcycles’
ability to bypass police and army controls. In most study countries measures were formulated in a non-consultative manner.
This, we argue, is symptomatic of governments’ unwillingness to seriously engage with the sector.
Keywords
motorcycle taxis, COVID-19, Sub-Saharan Africa, informal economy, transportation and society, transportation in developing
countries, travel behavior