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MORE AND MORE CARS
/AFRICA
source: eb.eiu.com
earthtrends.wri.org/text/energy-
resources/variable-290.html
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Africa is on average far behind the other continents in car ownership. However, some Northern African countries and South Africa are catching up... - income per person in North Africa range from the top to the bottom of the international scale. Car ownership in the region's largest economies ranges from a high of 234 per 1,000 people in Israel to a low of just 22 per 1,000 in Egypt. These figures are well below those in the poorest EU countries: 479 per 1,000 in Greece, and 436 in Portugal (in 2003);
- last official figures show that new car ownership in Egypt fell from 85,000 in 2000 to 55,000 in 2002. Sales in 2003 were estimated at 52,000 vehicles, 32,500 of which were locally manufactured. According to The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), new passenger cars registrations will rise from 52 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2003 to 118 in 2009;
- among Northern African countries, Lybia has the highest car ownership rate: in 1996 there were 166 passenger cars per 1,000 people while, in the same year, Tunisia registered only 41 (becoming 53 four year later), Morocco and Algeria about 38 and 25 respectively;
- in Morocco, the imported cars have grown by 13.1% per year in the period 1990-1995, after the liberalisation policies implemented in the 80s. With the association agreement, import duties, presently at 32.5%, will be eliminated by 2013. As a consequence it is estimated that the Moroccan car fleet will increase four-fold by 2020. In 2001, the Moroccan automobile fleet counted 1.4 million vehicles, of which 1 million vehicles are privately owned. 54,808 cars were imported and assembled in Morocco during 2004, up by 28% compared to the previous year;
- in 2001, the Algerian automobile fleet counted 1.5 million vehicles (900,000 private cars), in Tunisia the figures were respectively 610,000 and 390,000, in Egypt 3 million and 1.3 million, and in Libya 815,000 and 470,000;
- Algeria’s stock of passenger cars is small: there were only 54 cars per 1,000 people in 2003, according to the Office National des Statistiques (ONS), the bulk of which were over 20 years old. Nevertheless, large increases in hydrocarbons revenue have boosted the economy and helped fuel a sharp rise in new car registrations: these increased by 1/3 in 2003, according to the ONS, and are likely to have shown strong growth in 2004, pushing the stock of cars up to around 109 per 1,000 people. The Algerian automobile dealers sold 115,000 new cars in 2004, which is an increase of 40% as compared to 2003. The EIU forecasts that passenger cars per 1,000 people will rise to 268 by end-2009.
While industrial nations have an average of 445 cars per 1,000 people, in sub-Saharan Africa the statistics are one car per 1,000 people! - according to the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, in 1996 just a few countries had more than 20 cars per 1,000 people: South Africa 100.3; Mauritius 61.7; Namibia 46.4, Swaziland 32.6; Sao Tome & Principe 29.6; Gabon 22.4; Côte d'Ivoire 20.5;
- in the same year, only 8 countries registered more than 10 cars per 1,000 people: Togo 19.7; Angola 17.7; Botswana 17.4; Congo, Dem Rep. 17.4; Zambia 17.0; Congo 13.9; Kenya 10.2; Senegal 10.0;
- other 8 had more than 5 cars per 1,000 people: Sudan 9.9; Nigeria 7.7, Gambia 7.5; Cameroon 7.2; Benin 6.7; Lesotho 6.6; Guinea-Bissau 6.5; Ghana 5.1;
- several other countries counted on an automobile fleet of less than 5 cars per 1,000 inhabitants: Sierra Leone 4.5; Madagascar 4.4; Niger 4.1; Equatorial Guinea 3.7; Burkina Faso 3.7; Liberia 3.4; Burundi 3.1; Malawi 2.9; Mali 2.7; Rwanda 2.3; Guinea 2.1; Uganda 1.8; Eritrea 1.6; Chad 1.5; Ethiopia 0.9; Tanzania 0.8; Mozambique 0.3; Central African Rep. 0.2; Somalia 0.1;
- in South Africa, the level of ownership in 2003 stand at about 104 cars per 1,000 people, but the wide income disparities ensure a contrast between the rates in the white population, which approximate US and Australian levels, and those in the African population, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) . Cars prices are higher than in the US, Europe and Australia, making ownership a luxury for the majority of the population. Nevertheless, local sales of vehicles have increased from 354,632 units in 2000 to 382,600 units in 2003. Of the total new-vehicle domestic sales in 2003, passenger cars accounted for 67.5%. The EIU forecasts that passenger cars per 1,000 people will rise to 137 by end-2009;
- in Senegal, the import of automobiles from the European Union increased two folds to 58 million euros between 1998 & 2001. It is estimated that 90% of the total vehicles in Senegal were second hand cars. The rate of car ownership is still only 9-10 cars per 1,000 people, but it is concentrated in Dakar (where it reaches 47/1,000) and increasing with affluence;
- Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa. With a GDP per head of only US$387 in 2003, cars are beyond the reach of the majority of the population. In 2003 there were only 7.5 cars per 1,000 people, 1/3 of the level in neighbouring Algeria. Despite some local production, most cars are imported, and most of those are used cars. In 2000 used-car imports accounted for around 90% of total car imports in volume terms, according to the US Foreign Commercial Service. The EIU forecasts that in the forthcoming years the Nigerian stock of passenger cars will remain almost the same fluctuating between 8 (2005) and 7 (2009) cars per 1,000 people.
Number of cars per 1000 people: Africa (selected countries) | country | 1980 | 1994 | 1996 | 1998 | 2000 | 2004 | source | | Libya | -- | 96.1 | 166.9 | -- | -- | | 1, | | South Africa | 84.6 | 99.7 | 100.3 | -- | 102 | 104*** | 1, 2
(2000), 3 (00) | | Algeria | 29.8** | 26.4 | 25.4 | -- | -- | 109 | 1, 3
(04) | | Tunisia | 19.6 | 27.6 | 41.7 | 47.0 | 53.0 | | 1 | | Morocco | 21.8* | 36.4 | 37.9 | 40.0 | -- | | 1 | | Namibia | -- | 39.4 | 46.4 | -- | 38.0 | | 1 | | Swaziland | -- | 30.5 | 32.6 | 35.0 | -- | | 1 | | Zimbabwe | -- | 28.7 | 27.6 | -- | -- | | 1 | | Egypt | -- | 21.5 | 22.8 | -- | -- | | 1 | | Botswana | 8.6 | 13.1 | 17.4 | 24.0 | -- | | 1 | | Gabon | -- | 21.3 | 22.4 | -- | -- | | 1 | | Angola | -- | 16.4 | 17.7 | -- | -- | | 1 | | Senegal | -- | 9.4 | 10.0 | 9.0 | | | 1 | | Kenya | 6.8 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 8.0 | 8.0 | | 1 | | Nigeria | -- | 7.0 | 7.7 | -- | -- | | 1 | | Gambia | -- | 7.3 | 7.5 | -- | -- | | 1 | | Cameroon | -- | 6.9 | 7.2 | -- | -- | | 1 | | Eritrea | -- | 1.4 | 1.6 | -- | -- | | 1 | | Ethiopia | -- | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.0 | | 1 |
* Data 1979; ** 1981; ***2003.
Sources: (1) World Bank, World Development Indicators; (2) www.expat-today.com/country_file/southafrica/expat2.htm; (3) The Economist Intelligence Unit.
(1) [ www.dcci.gov.ae/content/Bulletin/Issue12/SectorMonEn_ISSUE12.pdf]
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