One of the world’s poorest countries spent $170 million on a cable car system that nobody uses, just before the president fled the country

The idea was unique for sub-Saharan Africa: Use cable cars to lift thousands of commuters above the daily gridlock in one of Africa’s fast-growing cities. Now there are three million of us,” Rajoelina said when the cable cars were unveiled in 2024. Residents ask why cable cars and not running waterOfficials said the cable cars could carry up to 75,000 people a day, take 2,000 vehicles off the roads and cut commutes from up to three hours to about 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the route. That brings huge demand for more public transport as well as other services like housing, health, education, water and electricity. And yet Africa has some of the world’s least developed public transport systems despite some of the fastest urbanization rates, according to Transport Africa, a research institution.