Phano Liphoto was in his early twenties when he started commuting by bicycle in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2022. The then-university student rode 15 kilometres to campus on lanes painted more than a decade earlier. Many were scattered, poorly maintained and often blocked by minibus taxis.
Today, the urban planners commute is very different. Much of it is along protected bike lanes and through cyclist-friendly intersections. Sometimes Liphoto pairs cycling with a trip on Johannesburgs metrorail for a seamless citywide journey.
"I have benefitted physically, financially and socially, he says of Johannesburgs cycling infrastructure upgrades.
The city is one of a growing number of African metropolises that are striving to make themselves more bike friendly. The shift is designed to ease gridlock, reduce pollution, counter climate change and make the continents notoriously dangerous roads safer.
In April 2026, transport and energy ministers from across Africa gathered in Johannesburg to endorse a continent-wide blueprint for investment in cycling and walking. The document, formally known as the Pan-African Action Plan for Active Mobility, was shaped through consultations with more than 1,300 stakeholders across the continent and is co-led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), UN-Habitat and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Where policy paved lanes
More than 1 billion Africans walk or cycle nearly an hour each day, yet the continents roads were built for cars and are often unsafe. Africa has 3 per cent of the worlds vehicles and 24 per cent of its road deaths. Pedestrians and cyclists represent more than a third of those killed.
