The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu today extended a warm welcome to delegates and dignitaries at the Second General Assembly of the African Association of Urban Mobility Authorities (AUMA) in Victoria Island, Lagos.
The Two day event marks a significant step towards enhancing urban transport governance in Africa’s rapidly growing metropolitan areas.
In his keynote address, Governor Sanwo-Olu who was represented by the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi praised AUMA for its commitment to strengthening urban transport governance, aligning with Lagos State’s THEMES+ development agenda.
He emphasized the importance of AUMA in sharing experiences and lessons on urban mobility and encouraged discussions on enhancing technical capacity, resource sharing, addressing climate change, and deploying technology to protect revenue.
The Governor expressed optimism that the General Assembly would lead to joint positions and recommendations to improve transit operations across African cities. He also called for the inclusion of more African countries within AUMA to expand its benefits to different cities.
The Managing Director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Engr. Abimbola Akinajo, who was present at the event stated that the gathering creates an opportunity to come together to address the distinctive and intricate of urban mobility issues that African cities are experiencing.
Also speaking, President of AUMA Executive Committee and Director General of Executive Council of Urban Transport of Dakar (CETUD), Dr. Thierno Birahim, noted that AUMA’s aim at fostering innovations, collaboration and policy advancement in urban mobility across Africa is being achieved through the gathering.
The Second General Assembly and Workshop of AUMA, is co-organised by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), in collaboration with Africa Transport Policy Programme (SSATP),convenes authorities from Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Tanzania, Mozambique, Morocco, Ethiopia, and Cameroon.
The association pledged to continue to bring together Mobility Authorities from various African countries to exchange knowledge and experiences relating to urban transportation planning, coordination, regulation, management, and financing.
