Lagos to get 50 Electric buses by 2024, marking a shift to cleaner transportation

In its drive to commit to cleaner transportation, Lagos state is set to get 50 electric buses by the first quarter of 2024.

This was revealed by Olukemi Amore, head of bus services at Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), at the 2023 Nordic Nigeria Connect on Tuesday.

“For the next phase of electric buses, we will see 50 electric buses come into Lagos,” she said.

She said it is one of Lagos state’s plans to transition to cleaner mobility and reduce emissions in line with Sustainable Development Goals 11, 13 and the Lagos State Government’s THEME’S Agenda.

Lagos State currently has two electric buses that have been in operation since May 2023.

Other initiatives taken towards cleaner mobility by LAMATA include partnerships with private operators to run CNG buses in Lagos (2 different bus types), Participation in the World Bank study on Electric Mobility in Nigeria, a feasibility study on renewable fuel (Biodiesel and Biogas) for Public Transportation (Funded by SWEDFUND) and the partnership with the private sector to pilot electric buses for public transport operations in Lagos.

She said the demand for trips in the Lagos megacity region by all modes (including walking) is 22 million per day.

Amore said in 2011, Nigeria had the fourth highest CO2 emission from fuel combustion in Africa, after South Africa, Egypt and Algeria, respectively and by 2016, the transport sector, with a 32 per cent share, was the most significant contributor to a nationwide Fossil CO2 emission from fuel combustion that year. Stating that over a quarter of those emissions come from Lagos alone.

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She noted that the vision for LAMATA is to operate a multi-fueled public transport network, and one such way is through the Strategic Transport Master Plan (STMP) implementation.

“Execution of projects within the STM will result in an emission level less than eight million tonnes per annum, representing over 50 per cent reduction in emissions from the 2032 BAU level,” she said.

Also, on the same panel, Francis Lechat, head of West Africa SCANIA, a popular truck and bus manufacturer, mentioned that they will reintroduce used trucks to Nigeria again in 2024.

He said they had done this in the past. Still, he stopped because most of the models of the used trucks across Europe and North America use Euro 5 diesel engines, and diesel produced in Nigeria contains a lot of sulphur, which is Euro2&3, so introducing used trucks to the country will cause frequent damages to the trucks lousy PR to the company.

He noted that with the emergence of the Dangote refinery, which intends to produce Euro-5 diesel, “we are bringing back the Used Trucks, but the commencement is pertinent on the start of Dangote refinery,” Lechat said