Africa: A dumping ground for used, low-quality cars?

Oct. 29, 2021

As Africa fights climate change, a slew of reasons continue to hinder the continent’s efforts; one of such is the importation of secondhand, over-used cars.

If you asked an average African if they dream of owning a car, you hear a resounding yes, of course. However, as much they wish to, purchasing a brand new vehicle may be far off their reach. Hence, many would go for secondhand cars.

This has become a trend. Unfortunately, many of these cars do not last long before they are parked. The ones that still move emit tonnes of greenhouse gases carbon monoxide and the lesser-known nitrogen dioxide, contributing to air pollution.

Between 2015 and 2018, Europe, Japan, and the United States shipped 14 million older, low-quality cars to Africa. Four out of five cars are sold to poorer countries, with Africa receiving more than half of these used and damaged cars.

Secondhand cars account for at least 85 percent of Africa’s vehicle fleet, with some of them are fitted with outdated parts.

Efforts to tackle climate change are thwarted by millions of secondhand vehicles, vans, and minibuses. As long as steps are not taken to address this, Africa would continue to accommodate badly used cars.

The dangers of used cars

Secondhand cars pollute the air and because they are not in prime condition, they often cause road accidents. Many of them are of poor quality and would fail roadworthiness testing in the countries where they are exported.

Experts believe that the growing number of traffic accidents in several African countries is due to these old cars. Harmful particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, which are major contributors to air pollution in many cities, are also emitted by overused cars.

Nigeria, the continent’s largest economy, imports nearly half a million cars each year, according to the National Automotive Council of the country. The majority comes from Japan, and brands like Toyota are now popular on the country’s roadways, with the majority being overused secondhand cars.

Given the dangers of these vehicles, what policies are in place to deal with secondhand vehicles that are not roadworthy? If such already exist, it is clear that they are not being implemented as the number of old cars continues to rise as the population grows.

What can be done?

In many African countries, a lack of environmental rules makes it simpler to sell older models, and the network of roads allows these used automobiles to be trafficked from one African country to another.

For example, Zimbabwean motorists can order a car from Japan online, have it sent to Durban, South Africa, and then delivered by road carrier to the border between the two nations.

As long as there are purchase documentation and money exchange hands, there is little or no need to verify these secondhand cars. Citizens are aware of this and buy into this arrangement with zeal.

Many people in developing countries cannot afford new cars, thus they must rely on old cars. However, this does not mean that overused cars should be imported into the continent.

There are steps and policies that some African leaders can adopt to check imported cars to void gathering waste as cars thereby increasing the continent’s landfills, particularly in Nigeria and Libya. Policies have largely ignored the impact of these used cars on the environment and human health.

Cars that have outlived or are likely to outlive their useful lives should not be imported into the continent. This is a distinct possibility, as some African governments have begun to prohibit the usage of excessively worn cars.

For instance, Ghana’s new customs amendment law 2020, which went into effect in October 2020, prohibits the importation of any secondhand car older than ten years.

Senegal also took part in taking steps to reduce the number of used cars in the country, the decrease can be attributed to a ban on the entry of private automobiles older than four years and commercial cars older than six years.

Zimbabwe, in particular, is not taking this lightly, since the country has attempted to ban old cars from the country on several occasions.

The government indicated it would prohibit their import in 2010 and 2014, but a consumer backlash ensured that legislation was never passed. again, another policy that never saw the light of day.

Although Africa is still a long way from having electric cars on every road, it is something to consider if the case for decreasing carbon emissions and air pollution is to be taken seriously.

Report courtesy: climateaction.africa