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2023 Kofi Annan Road Safety Award

The 2023 Kofi Annan Road Safety Award

The 2023 edition of the Kofi Annan Road Safety Award will be hosted by the Government of Morocco and held in Marrakech, Morocco, on 25-26 September 2023.

The Kofi Annan Road Safety Award is organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, and the Kofi Annan Foundation. The award recognises outstanding contributions in reducing fatalities and injuries from road crashes in Africa. By celebrating excellence in thinking and action, the award seeks to inspire governments, private sectors, civil society organizations, and individuals to develop and implement innovative initiatives that can save lives on the continent’s roads.

Furthermore, the Kofi Annan Road Safety Award also serves as a tribute to the late Kofi Annan, a distinguished statesman and advocate for road safety.

The primary objective of the Kofi Annan Road Safety Award is to motivate key stakeholders – governments, the private sector, and civil society organizations – to develop and implement innovative and outstanding ideas/initiatives to save lives on Africa’s roads.

Nominations for the 2023 Kofi Annan Road Safety Award

Nominations for the 2023 edition of the Kofi Annan Road Safety Award are open from 26 June 2023 until 11:59pm EAT, 30 July 2023. Judging will occur in August and winners will be notified by the end of August 2023.

Kofi Annan Road Safety Award 2023

Nomination Form

Criteria (in English)

Lignes directrices et processus de nomination (en français)

Morocco – 2023 Host Country

Morocco is a leading country in road safety in Africa. A giant step was made in 2020 by creating a leading Road Safety Agency – autonomous and fully funded – the National Road Safety Agency (NARSA). This institution comes to crown the heritage of the National Committee for The Prevention of Traffic Accidents (CNPAC), created in 1977. Also, Morocco makes enormous efforts to promote South-South cooperation with its African partners in road transport and road safety.

The inaugural Kofi Annan Road Safety Award ceremony was held in May 2022 in Accra, Ghana, the home country of Kofi Annan, and in recognition of the interest of the Government of Ghana in the initiative. It was jointly organized by the Government of Ghana, the ECA, the Secretariat of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, the Kofi Annan Foundation, and the African Transport Policy Programme (SSATP).

2022 Kofi Annan Road Safety Award winners

Road Safety in Africa

Road crashes in Africa are a major concern, leading to a high number of fatalities compared to other regions.

Despite having the lowest levels of motorization globally, the continent loses over 300,000 lives annually. Africa has the highest estimated road traffic fatality rate of 26.6 deaths per 100,000 population, much higher than the global average of 17.5.

If Africa continues to improve its roads without implementing proper road safety measures, it is expected that the number of crashes will increase. This has significant financial consequences because the continent could lose its investment in road infrastructure due to the high cost of crashes, estimated to be 1-2% of countries’ GDP.

In some countries like Uganda, this cost may even reach 5%. On the other hand, improving road safety can lead to substantial savings, which could help close Africa’s infrastructure financing gap. This financing gap is estimated to be between $137 billion and $177 billion per year.