Women in the driver’s seat in Ghana!

Scania believes in a gender-balanced workforce that offers equal career opportunities for men and women. In West Africa, for instance, the company is playing a leading role in reducing the gender gap in Ghana’s transport industry.

Nearly 100 women have trained to become bus or truck drivers in the Ghanaian capital Accra through two Scania campaigns, “Women moving the city” and “Women moving trucks”.

Accra has a population of around four million inhabitants, yet professional female drivers amount to just a decimal percentage of all of the drivers on the road.

“Women moving the city” is a campaign initiated by Scania West Africa in partnership with the Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE) and the German international development organisation Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The two parties have established the West African Transport Academy, which was created specifically to train women. The demand for training was impressive from the very beginning, recalls the GIZ project manager Johanna Moss: “As early as the first week, we had nearly 400 applicants who were interested in the programme. There was an enormous demand.”

The academy and the two campaigns aim to boost the number of women drivers in the city’s public transport system by offering participants tailor-made training for female bus drivers. Iparticipants learn how to drive safely, as well as how to drive efficiently to help reduce fuel costs.

The programme has been internationally recognised. Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has referred to the project as a successful example of bilateral ties between the African Union and the European Union. The President of Ghana, Nana Akofu-Addo, is another supporter.

“Working on a project like this, where people’s lives are actually changing in front of our eyes, is so fulfilling,” says Billy Amedro, Scania’s project manager for bus systems. “Not even one of them has indicated that the programme is burdensome or that they’re pondering dropping out. They are all so determined.”

Ladybird Logistics is a new company that only employs female drivers. With a key role in “Women moving trucks,” the company is currently training 22 drivers. “Using Scania methods, the drivers learn to drive safely while keeping the total operating economy in mind,” says Payin Marfo, managing director of Ladybird Logistics.

The campaign has also teamed up with Esenam Nyador – also known as Miss Taxi Ghana, because she has her own taxi company. Nyador is a driving force in efforts to improve the gender balance in public transport. “In a profession where women constitute a decimal percentage, the projects can only be celebrated as a welcome collaborative effort to help desegregate the driving profession,” she says.

Lives are being changed through these initiatives. Take Grace Adomako, for instance, who trained at the West African Transport Academy. She remembers the first day at the wheel: “In the beginning, driving a large city bus felt strange, but I really wanted to succeed.”

Adomako has long since overcome her initial uncertainty and gained self-confidence. Since successfully completing her six-month training, Adomako now works as a bus driver in Accra. While she is busy transporting passengers to their destinations and earning money for her family, her husband looks after their two children.

Managing director of Scania West Africa Fredrik Morsing says that Scania aims to offer equal career opportunities to men and women. “We believe a more balanced workforce, with more women driving buses in Accra, will have a positive impact on traffic safety and customer service,” he says. “We hope that this initiative will not only be an opportunity for women in Accra to embrace a new career opportunity, but also challenge the existing drivers to further improve their performance.”