Covoiturage au Grand-Nokoué et plateformes numériques de mobilité partagée en Afrique de l'Ouest

Shared mobilities, particularly carpooling, foster a paradox in Africa. While bush taxis have experienced historic success for the past 50 years due to traditional sharing practices transposed into public transport, modernization through digital platforms is struggling to take root in a sustainable...

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Main Author: Raynald Ballo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Netcom Association 2024-04-01
Series:Netcom
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/netcom/8695
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author Raynald Ballo
author_facet Raynald Ballo
author_sort Raynald Ballo
collection DOAJ
description Shared mobilities, particularly carpooling, foster a paradox in Africa. While bush taxis have experienced historic success for the past 50 years due to traditional sharing practices transposed into public transport, modernization through digital platforms is struggling to take root in a sustainable way. This observation, highlighted through maps, underscores the recurring failures of initiatives taken in West Africa. Indeed, over the past 15 years, more than half of the companies created in this sector have been abandoned. In Grand-Nokoué, Benin, a qualitative and quantitative survey of 230 users combined with a documentary analysis at the West African level, makes it possible to understand their difficulties. Data from an immersion in the field reveals three major factors: a more flexible relationship to time without a culture of rigorous planning, out of step with the rational logic of platforms; a deeply rooted community conception of travel based on social proximity, contrary to sharing with strangers; a sense of insecurity towards outsiders and a primacy of individual comfort, contrary to the spirit of carpooling. The working classes, versed in ancestral practices of mutual aid in transport, could play a key role in the sustainable territorial anchoring of the new services. However, innovative initiatives in the field of platforms require strong political support, which is not yet acquired here, and, concurrently, a "progressive" familiarization that is still very much in progress.
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spelling doaj-art-fc2c88813bf44d8c885bbf5a3879bc002025-01-30T11:01:33ZengNetcom AssociationNetcom0987-60142431-210X2024-04-013710.4000/w89zCovoiturage au Grand-Nokoué et plateformes numériques de mobilité partagée en Afrique de l'OuestRaynald BalloShared mobilities, particularly carpooling, foster a paradox in Africa. While bush taxis have experienced historic success for the past 50 years due to traditional sharing practices transposed into public transport, modernization through digital platforms is struggling to take root in a sustainable way. This observation, highlighted through maps, underscores the recurring failures of initiatives taken in West Africa. Indeed, over the past 15 years, more than half of the companies created in this sector have been abandoned. In Grand-Nokoué, Benin, a qualitative and quantitative survey of 230 users combined with a documentary analysis at the West African level, makes it possible to understand their difficulties. Data from an immersion in the field reveals three major factors: a more flexible relationship to time without a culture of rigorous planning, out of step with the rational logic of platforms; a deeply rooted community conception of travel based on social proximity, contrary to sharing with strangers; a sense of insecurity towards outsiders and a primacy of individual comfort, contrary to the spirit of carpooling. The working classes, versed in ancestral practices of mutual aid in transport, could play a key role in the sustainable territorial anchoring of the new services. However, innovative initiatives in the field of platforms require strong political support, which is not yet acquired here, and, concurrently, a "progressive" familiarization that is still very much in progress.https://journals.openedition.org/netcom/8695AfricaCarpoolingshared mobilitydigital platformCulture
spellingShingle Raynald Ballo
Covoiturage au Grand-Nokoué et plateformes numériques de mobilité partagée en Afrique de l'Ouest
Netcom
Africa
Carpooling
shared mobility
digital platform
Culture
title Covoiturage au Grand-Nokoué et plateformes numériques de mobilité partagée en Afrique de l'Ouest
title_full Covoiturage au Grand-Nokoué et plateformes numériques de mobilité partagée en Afrique de l'Ouest
title_fullStr Covoiturage au Grand-Nokoué et plateformes numériques de mobilité partagée en Afrique de l'Ouest
title_full_unstemmed Covoiturage au Grand-Nokoué et plateformes numériques de mobilité partagée en Afrique de l'Ouest
title_short Covoiturage au Grand-Nokoué et plateformes numériques de mobilité partagée en Afrique de l'Ouest
title_sort covoiturage au grand nokoue et plateformes numeriques de mobilite partagee en afrique de l ouest
topic Africa
Carpooling
shared mobility
digital platform
Culture
url https://journals.openedition.org/netcom/8695
work_keys_str_mv AT raynaldballo covoiturageaugrandnokoueetplateformesnumeriquesdemobilitepartageeenafriquedelouest