Lagos Traffic Jams: How Nigeria’s Economic Hub Loses Trillions To Road Congestions
Inside Lagos, Africa’s most populated city and the economic hub of Nigeria, traffic slows down the commerce of businesses in the megacity of over 20 million inhabitants.
During rush hours, between 7 am and 8 am, and in the evening when workers are returning from their offices, traffic jams grind commuters’ vehicles into a steady slow motion that can stretch several miles and go on for hours.
With over 5 million cars and 200,000 commercial vehicles jostling for space on the often bad roads, residents are often trapped in traffic and spend an average of two hours navigating their way home or to their offices.
Even with the removal of fuel subsidies, which caused fuel prices to increase by over 140 percent in the last six months – forcing some car owners to reduce how frequently they use their vehicles – traffic congestion still poses a major problem to residents’ productivity time.
Danne Institute for Research, a Lagos-based research institute, in a new report, shows that the state loses N4 trillion annually – twice the state’s budget for 2023.
Presenting the report on Wednesday, November 22, 2023, Executive Director of the Danne Institute for Research, Franca Ovadje, said the loss could be directed toward vital sectors such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure development.
The report shows that on the Island, in places like Ajah, Etiosa, where some of the multinational firms are located, and where residents living on the Mainland commute for their work, traffic congestion is more intense.
“Areas like Ajah, Etiosa, and Apapa bear the brunt, necessitating urgent measures such as nighttime road construction, creation of alternative routes during construction, and strict enforcement of traffic laws,” the report noted.
As the city continues to grow at a population growth rate of about 3 percent, efforts to ease the flow of traffic have been largely unsuccessful.
However, on September 4, 2023, after four decades since plans for a rail service connecting different parts of Lagos were proposed, the first phase of an electric-powered Blue Line was opened to passengers for the first time. In a report, Neusroom discovered that the 13-km train track, which runs from Mile 2 to Marina in the Island, taken the train can reduce travel time by over 80 percent.
