In praise of matatus

ON THE edge of Kangemi, a slum to the west of Nairobi’s city centre, next to stalls selling T-shirts, sandals and second-hand mobile phones, is a busy minibus terminal. A dozen matatu minibuses jostle for space in spectacular paint jobs promoting Premier League football teams, film stars and Jesus Christ. As new vehicles arrive their conductors lean out of the doors shouting out destinations and fares. To an outsider it seems chaotic, and yet locals know exactly how it works. When a bus is full, it departs, and the next moves up.

Matatus are the primary means of getting around Nairobi. According to one estimate, seven out of ten people use them to get to work in Kenya’s hectic capital. Similar minibuses operate across Africa. In Lagos, they are called danfos and painted bright yellow; in Addis Ababa, “blue donkeys”. They are not comfortable: passengers are packed in like sardines. Nor are they always safe. Pickpockets, crashes and highway robberies are all too common. But they provide a remarkably effective and cheap public transport system at no cost to the government. This is now under threat from a by-product of growing affluence that is affecting cities across Africa—the rise of the private car.