Two-wheelers top list
The Ministry of Transport, in its latest report revealed that the total number of vehicles registered by the authority, at both federal and regional levels, has reached close to 1.2 million vehicles. Out of the total registered number; motorbikes top the list for any type of vehicle registered by the Federal Transport Authority.
According to the report, a total of 1,200,110 vehicles have been registered nationwide until the last fiscal year ending July 7, 2020.
The report shows that Addis Ababa has registered around 630,440 vehicles while Oromia (204,026), Amhara (106,434) and SNNPR have registered 118,424 vehicles. The above four regions rank from 1st to 4th, accordingly. The rest of the regions, according to the Ministry, rank from 5th to 11th with Tigray registering 60,800 vehicles, Dire Dawa Administration (24,510), Somali (19,579), Harari (10,728), Benishangul Gumuz (10,655), Afar (8,277) and Gambella registering 6,237 vehicles, respectively.
However, the report did not indicate how many vehicles were not registered during the period, but were expected to be registered.
According to the latest data and figure obtained by The Reporter from the Federal Transport Authority, the stated total number of registered vehicles [Of the 1.2 million registered vehicles], the highest portion goes to motorcycles (243,435) or 20.3 percent.
Meanwhile, Automobiles and Dry Cargos account for 19.71 percent (236,588) and 18.33 percent (220,060) of the total registered vehicles, respectively.
Surprisingly, the data also shows that Forklifts, Liquid Trailers, Combiners, Dozers and Graders respectively account for 316 (0.026 percent), 185 (0.015 percent), 167 (0.013 percent), 27 (0.002 percent) and 16 (0.001 percent).
However, the authority’s data does not indicate whether the vehicles under the possession of the Ministry of Defense are included in the figures or not. Furthermore, it does not show how many vehicles are in the private sectors possession or if it belongs to the government.
Explaining the numbers, Yohannes Lemam, Head of Road Safety Education and Awareness at the Authority, said the stated number of vehicles only represents the total number of vehicles registered in the fiscal year of 2012 (2019/20 GC) by the authority, but does not include vehicles existing in the country. He indicated that there may be more vehicles, whose owners might have failed in getting them registered during the given period.
Yohannes further pointed to the fact that there are a lot of vehicles particularly motorbikes that have been smuggled in illegally, adding that illegal vehicles are already on the roads.
“Though we [the authority] have our own stock in controlling these illegal vehicles, the mandate of chasing and capturing these illegal vehicles mainly falls under the duty and power of Ministry of Revenue and Custom offices,” Yohannes told The Reporter adding most of the motorbikes and other vehicles are smuggled in though border entries mainly from Sudan, Kenya and other neighboring countries..
Various reports puts Ethiopia at a lower rate of vehicle possession per population compared to other countries, but boasts a higher rate of accident and subsequent fatality rate.
Earlier this month, State Minister of Transport, Mullu Gebre-egziabher said that during the last fiscal year of 2019/20, the number of car accidents and its substantial fatally rate hit lower figures than previous periods. She, however, underlined that even though the number of death during the reported period looks low, the actual death toll is too big considering the number of total vehicles Ethiopia has in comparison with other African nations.
According to the minister, the total death in the reported period was lower by some 464 or 10.09 percent than in the previous year.
“Still, the latest death rate is too big and is at a shocking level compared to the total vehicles Ethiopia has. This figure still reminds us that we need to bring urgent measures to address such tragic fatality rates,” she said.
According to the WHO’s Global Health Observatory data repository, Ethiopia’s total number of registered vehicles in 2015/16 was at 708,416.
Meanwhile, the African Development Bank report dated in 2014 shows that vehicles are the number one export from Korea to the Horn of Africa, especially to Sudan and Ethiopia. Countries in the Horn have more vehicle imports than exports. Countries in the Horn had 928,994 registered vehicles in 2014. Ethiopia had the largest number of registered vehicles, 478,244, and a 6 percent annual growth rate.
