Africa’s Biggest Car Owners

 

Based on recent WHO data, James Francis takes a look at the 15 African countries with the most registered vehicles.

Cars can be found all over Africa, but the continent still lags behind the amount of vehicles seen in other regions.

Using data from the World Health Organisation, here are the fifteen African countries with the most vehicles...

 

Mauritania: 388, 305 registered vehicles

Though it gets into the top fifteen, Mauritania has a very low density of registered vehicles.

With a population of around 3.5 million, there is only one set of wheels for every ninety people.

The country’s roads are a reason for this: they are not in the best condition, to the point that travelling outside urban areas may require all-terrain vehicles.

 

Cameroon: 443, 018 registered vehicles

Cameroon has a low vehicle count, but it is starting to boom partly thanks to new oil ventures there.

For example, in 2009 vehicle imports from South Africa numbered 50, yet by 2011 this rose to over 3,000. A planned highway between two of its major urban centres is also likely to boost car ownership.

But for now the saturation is quite low: one vehicle for every 45 Cameroonians.

 

Côte d'Ivoire: 474, 873 registered vehicles

Vehicles are slowly gaining traction in the Ivory Coast, particularly due to the growth of Japanese and Chinese brands there. Numbers are hard to come by, but one estimate puts it at several thousand sales every six months.

That number was growing by double digits until political instability caused a significant reverse.

Poor roads are another factor keeping ownership down - there is one vehicle for every 42 Ivoirians.

 

Uganda: 635, 656 registered vehicles

Uganda is slowly overhauling its infrastructure, while its economy is also picking up.

This has attracted the interests of foreign companies - Russia’s government recently encouraged engineering firms to look towards Uganda for road construction contracts.

Such projects are needed - only around 4,000 kilometres, less than a third, of Uganda’s national roads are paved.

The annual rate of vehicle registration sits at around 18 percent, though ownership levels are still very low.

There is one vehicle for every 72 Ugandans.

 

Zimbabwe: 862, 756 registered vehicles

Political turmoil and a collapsed economy have affected the vehicle sales market in Zimbabwe.

But despite this, imports of cars are so popular that the government has introduced registration facilities at some of its ports and border posts.

The country has a fairly high proportion of vehicles already: one for every 14 Zimbabweans.

 

Burkina Faso: 884, 750 registered vehicles

More than 10,000 kilometres of Burkina Faso’s national roads are unpaved, explaining why it’s not known for its booming car retail industry.

Yet it doesn’t have such a low saturation level: one vehicle for every 19 Burkinabe.

This is because many of the unpaved roads are actually in very good condition.

 

Tanzania: 977, 468 registered vehicles

An emerging middle class is driving a boom in vehicle sales - according to Tanzanian authorities the number of vehicles in urban areas jumped as much as 70 percent in 2011.

In that same year nearly 100,000 new vehicles were registered.

But depreciation of the country’s currency has put a real damper on new sales.

As such Tanzania has a way to go as far as vehicle numbers go. There is one vehicle for every 47 Tanzanians.

 

Liberia: 1.03 million registered vehicles

Decades of war have not been kind to Liberia - of over 10,000 kilometres of public roads, less than a thousand are paved.

But these problems have hardly kept car ownerships at bay - the country has the highest ratios on the continent.

There is one vehicle for every 3.9 Liberians.

 

Ghana: 1.12 million registered vehicles

A mineral boom is helping boost Ghana’s prospects, which in 2011 saw the sale of light cars jump over 40 percent.

But it has some catching up to do - since personal spending power of Ghana’s middle class only started to include buying a car in the past few years, the ownership ratio remains quite low.

There is one vehicle for every 22 Ghanaians.

 

Kenya: 1.38 million registered vehicles

Proving to be a key battleground for the East African market, Kenya has been part of many vehicle brands’ local strategy for quite some time.

Sales numbers are slowly rising - in 2012 nearly 13,000 new vehicles were sold here.

But recent high interest rates have made it harder to secure credit for a new car.

There is one vehicle for every 30 Kenyans.

 

Tunisia: 1.48 million registered vehicles

Though specifics are hard to come by, Tunisia is a fairly boisterous vehicle market. It is one of the top car parts manufacturers in Africa and also has a small level of oil production, which can mean savings at the filling station.

It is certainly attracting the attention of numerous car brands and has the driving population to show for it: there is one vehicle for every 7 Tunisians.

 

Morocco: 2.79 million registered vehicles

Renault in particular has a long history with Morocco - not surprising given it used to be a French colony.

This also makes it the top brand there, but with annual vehicle sales of over 112,000 there is a lot of competition.

Morocco assembles vehicles, boosting its appeal as a car lover’s preferred destination.

There is one vehicle for every 11 Moroccans.

 

Egypt: 5.85 million registered vehicles

Egypt is notorious for its bad traffic and reckless driving, so too for its number of cars - the highest in northern Africa.

Despite the political turmoil of the past few years, vehicle sales only dropped during the period when the country deposed President Hosni Mubarak and in 2012 grew again.

Egyptian car sales may comfortably top 120,000 by the end of 2013.

But it also has a very big population; hence there is one car for every 14 Egyptians.

 

South Africa: 9.58 million registered vehicles

With a well-established car market, not to mention vibrant exports to other countries and great road infrastructure, it is hardly surprising South Africa ranks so well here.

It has the second-best ratio as well - there is a vehicle for every 5 South Africans. Over 600,000 cars were sold here in 2012 and more than 270,000 were exported, making this the continent’s biggest car market.

 

Nigeria: 12.54 million registered vehicles

South Africa may lead the car market size, but for sheer numbers Africa’s most populous nation is at the top.

But it is not a particularly big buyer of cars - averaging an annual number of 70,000 new cars.

Imports of new vehicles have been rising, but some point to Nigeria’s infrastructure shortfalls keeping it from becoming the car hub of West Africa.

There is one vehicle for every 12 Nigerians.