Eswatini to Host the Third Kofi Annan Road Safety Award Recognizing Outstanding Contributions to Saving Lives on Africa’s Roads
With the primary objective of motivating key stakeholders to develop and implement innovative and outstanding ideas and initiatives to save lives on Africa’s roads, the third edition of the Kofi Annan Road Safety Award will be hosted in Ezulwini, Eswatini on 14 – 15 April 2025.
The event, which was held in Morocco in 2023 and Ghana in 2022, will be organised by the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Secretariat of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, and the Kofi Annan Foundation.
Call for Nominations
The call for nominations for the 2025 Kofi Annan Road Safety Award is open from 27 January until 15 February 2025 via the UNECA website.
- Nominations will be judged in February 2025 by a dedicated committee composed of ECA and the Office of the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety;
- Notifications will be sent to winners by 25 February 2025;
- The Kofi Annan Awards will be presented to the winners on April, 15, 2025 during the Award ceremony in Ezulwini, Kingdom of Eswatini.
How to Nominate
- One category should be chosen by the applicant.
- The nomination form should be filled out directly online.
- Nominations must be submitted by 15th February 2025.
- Self-nomination is allowed.
- Nominations must be clear, concise and presented against all the criteria.
- Before submitting a nomination, please read all the information concerning the process.
Road Safety in Africa
Road crashes are disproportionately high in Africa compared to other regions of the world. The continent loses annually over 300,000 people through road crashes, even though its countries are witnessing the lowest levels of motorization in the world. Africa is the most affected by road crashes, with a traffic fatality rate of 19.5 deaths per 100,000 people compared to 16 deaths per 100,000 in Southeast Asia, and 6.5 deaths per 100,000 in Europe. Thirty-eight percent of all
African road traffic fatalities occur among pedestrians while 43 percent occur among car occupants.
Africa loses annually over 300,000 people through road crashes, even though its countries are witnessing the lowest levels of motorization in the world.
These average figures mask the wide variation among countries on the continent, with many of them recording a higher share of pedestrian deaths as a percentage of total deaths. For instance, up to 46 percent of road traffic deaths in Kenya occur among pedestrians. Motorized 2-3 wheelers and cyclists account for 7 percent and 5 percent of Africa’s traffic deaths respectively. A significant
proportion of road fatalities on the continent occur in urban areas.
It is expected that the ongoing improvement of the quality and coverage of Africa’s roads will increase crashes on the continent if appropriate road safety measures do not accompany it. This has huge financial implications as Africa may lose all its investment in road infrastructure through crashes that are estimated to cost 1-2 percent of the GDP of countries. Indeed, this may be as high as 5 percent in countries such as Uganda. From another perspective, savings through improved road safety could significantly close Africa’s infrastructure financing gap, estimated to be between $137 billion–$177 billion a year.
