Ghana’s Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) will host the TroTro Apps Challenge on May 27-28, bringing together players in Accra’s public transport sector and the tech ecosystem to develop solutions aimed at utilising the data gathered on the TroTro routes in innovative ways to enhance mobility in the city.
MEST has partnered the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and the French Agency for Development (AFD) to organise the challenge.
TroTros are minibus taxis that provide the major form of public transport around Accra, with attendees of the event to be provided with data on more than 300 TroTro routes. More than 100 hackers are expected to attend to create apps to improve mobility in Accra.
With a population of around four million, and more than one million people commuting to the city for various socio-economic activities, Accra is faced with a significant public transport and mobility challenge, MEST said.
“The AMA, through its Department of Transport and in partnership with the AFD, has gathered TroTro data on over 300 active routes and hundreds of stops. At the TroTro Apps Challenge, for the first time ever, the data will be officially made public.”
The two-day event, held at the MEST Campus in Accra, will see technology innovators compete to come up with exciting app ideas based on this data.
