The African Automotive Design Association's goal is "...to bring together Automotive design enthusiasts,Artists of all ages, professional designers and design students, of all nationalities, to promote designeducation, African culture, African Heritage, and to encourage automotive design practice in Africa..."Their mission is "...To develop and create a brand new automotive design language, style or identity for Africa..."



The Uri (Namibia) Uri. From the Namibian word for "jump", this extremely able 4x4 is perfect for the real off road path. Made in Namibia and South Africa using a Toyota chassis and engine (underpinnings).



The libyan Rocket: The car was unveiled on the 30th anniversary of the revolution which propelled the Libyan leader to power. The Saroukh el-Jamahiriya (Libyan rocket) a five-passenger saloon in a metallic Libyan revolutionary green with tinted windows, was launched at a special summit of the Organisation of African Unity organised by Colonel Gaddafi. The car has the aerodynamic lines of conventional models but the front and rear ends are rocket-shaped. The interior is replete with air bags, an inbuilt electronic defence system, and a collapsible bumper which protects passengers in head-on collisions. Revolutionary Dukhali Al-Meghareff, chairman of the Libyan Arab Domestic Investment company which produced the prototype, billed it as revolutionary in automotive history. He said it was developed from safety ideas conceived by Gaddafi. The company plans to set up a factory next month in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, to start production. "The leader spent so many hours of his valuable time thinking of an effective solution. It is the safest car produced anywhere," Mr Meghareff said. "The invention of the safest car in the world is proof that the Libyan revolution is built on the happiness of man."



The Z-600 (Nigeria) The Z-600 was the brainchild of a Nigerian Dr Ezekiel Izuogu, who envisioned an all-African car, designed and made in Nigeria from 90% local content. It has a doorbell for a horn, quite a surprising detail, and still remains as an existing prototype.


(The Matatu Kenya) This very unique and useful minibus design called a Matatu. It was originally styled and developed in Nairobi Kenya; The body is fabricated from sheet metal and built upon an Isuzu minibus chassis that is also driven by an Isuzu engine.

(Morocco) The Laraki Fulgura: This Moroccan supercar concept, named after its founder Abdeslam Laraki was based on the world famous Lamborghini Diablo. It was offically unveiled at the 2002 Geneva motor show.

^^^^^how fascinating!!!!

Vub, thanks for sharing that.

Good thread man

Transportation Design is the field of designing vehicles starting from simple drawings/sketches and working your way up to the final design.Vubundada-----

Renderingby John Kalu (Nigeria)

Notice the sports car with 6 wheels. Now that is imagination Naija stlye.niceone.gif



An example of African Automotive Design:la Moroccan Laraki Ful Concept Car


Sketch of a Citroenby Wayne Batty (South Africa)




Pegasus of Mine Reffat (Egypt)



Jonathan Kasumba. The founder of the AADA, Jonathan Kasumba



The founder of the AADA, Jonathan Kasumba (Uganda)




[align=justify]FounderJonathan Kasumba,the AADA (African Automotive DesignAssociation) resolves to promotethe field of design, and the culture and customs ofAfrica, encouraging emergent talents and placing themselves like reference for the community of the design in Africa.
As J. Kasumba explains, "the AADA and its members have one mission: to ahead develop and to carry a new formal language that renders the African design recognizable."

"We want a car that joins African inequivocabilmente".

"In covering this road will come in aid of the AADA the cutura, the customs and the own perception of the world of Africa."

This is the philosophy to the base of the first community ofAfricans dedicated to the automotive design.[/align]

[align=justify][/align]

Appropriate Technology Africa - Creating Employment In Africa

Appropriate Technology is an African company with offices in Zimbabwe and South Africathat is committed to designing and manufacturing simple and basic machinery for Africa. Buy your next equipment from them. There are several companies like this all over Africa. Vubundada------------

"Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime."Chinese Proverb

"Thoughts and dreams are the foundation of our being."Nigerian Proverb

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own." Benjamin Disraeli

Please visit http://www.approtechafrica.com/

TractorTractor & Trailer Tractor



Tractor150 kw Generator Lawn Mower



Oil Expeller Peanut Butter Plant Pop Corn Maker for DSP



Hammer Mill Maize Oven Grinding Mill



Appeal to African Elites



I am working for rural development internationally particularly for African countries. I have visited Africa four times and moved in several countries and I am trying to understand African people with a keen interest. I am very much distressed to see dangerous disparity in all the African countries i.e. only a handful of people having captured most of the wealth of the country and millions of masses remaining hand to mouth. I have also observed that most of the races of Africa have inner spirit and good capabilities to come up in line with so called civilised and developed countries. So I am very much optimistic that Africa is competent enough to come out as the strongest continent of the world in a very short period of 10 to 20 years and can provide alternative to the western life style which has no future as it is based on exploitation of the entire world. I am humbly describing myself as real friend and real well wisher of African people because I have burning desire to remove their merciless exploitation being done through various multinational and big companies. I want to humbly show real path of happiness for common masses. I am carrying in my heart certain BASIC CONVICTIONS which force me to suggest that if the path which I am recommending is followed by African people, it will bring economic revolution in Africa and also in the world in one or two decades through which Africa will come out as the strongest continent.

But I have painfully observed that most of the elite class of every African country is under illusion that model of development and progress imposed on them by developed countries is correct and path of development and progress shown by developed countries is real path. So all the Governments of Africa follow the same pattern of development as Europe and U.S.A. followed. So every African country is trying to establish big industries, is trying to develop highways, cities, power stations, ports, airports and infrastructure required by giant industries. I VENTURE TO ASSERT THAT THIS IS NOT THE PATH OF HAPPINESS BUT THIS IS THE PATH OF EXPLOITATION AND PERMANENT SLAVERY OF AFRICAN PEOPLE If you want homogenious development and progress of entire society of millions of masses,you have to evolve your own economic strategy based on local self reliance atleast for primary needs of people i.e. for food, cloth and shelter. Very evidently this type of local self reliance can be achieved through cottage scale family size industries based on small and simple technology. When I came to know about big maize mills purchasing maize from hundreds of villages, I was really shocked. Tremendious amount of exploitation can be eliminated simply by establishing tiny tiny maize mills everywhere where ever necessary. Maize milling is the simplest technology. A very ordinary workshop can manufacture maize mills. But it is a painful wonder that throughout Africa, big big maize mills are working resulting in to heavy exploitation of common masses. Nature of technology is such that complicated machinery makes simple thing also complicated.

Primary needs such as maize flour, wheat flour, rice, cooking oil, sugar, jaggery, tea coffee, soap, cloth, bricks, tiles and building materials etc. are all simple things and all these things must be manufactured at cottage scale level with very simple and cheap technology.THIS IS THE PATH OF HAPPINESS. BIG COMPLICATED MACHINERY HAS NO PLACE IN MANUFACTURING PRIMARY NEEDS OF PEOPLE. WHENEVER AND WHERE EVER YOU VIOLATE THIS PRINCIPLE, YOU GIVE RISE TO EXPLOITION, ANY COUNTRY OR SOCIETY WHICH IS BEING EXPLOITED FOR PRIMARY NEEDS OF PEOPLE, CAN NEVER COME UP AND IS DESTINED TO RUIN.

Many people raise doubts that how all the primary needs can be fulfilled through cottage industries. How cloth and sugar can be produced at cottage scale. I know that number of such questions can be raised. I must admit that I have no ready made solution for every such question. But I do have strong faith and conviction that every such question can be transformed in to a pleasant solution if dedicated efforts are made to develop small and simple technology for every kind of primary needs. You must know that previously world best quality cloth was produced in millions of houses of India since centuries with very simple tools and equipments not costing even 100 dollars. It can be still produced in millions of houses if controls imposed on cottage industries for favouring giant centralised economy are abolished. A very fine quality of jaggery (hygenically better than sugar) is still produced at cottage scale practically at every sugarcane farm in spite of strict controls of our government to abolish this farm level industry for favouring giant sugar factories. Bricks and lime is still a cottage industry througout India. There are atleast 500 tiny flour mills in my city alone (population 9,00,000). Oil milling was also cottage industry throughout India since centuries. Our Government made foolish blunder to abolish it.

So my most sincere advice to African elite class is that "You should immediately return from the dangerous path which leads to exploitation, ruin and perish. You should evolve your own path based on decentralised, small and simple machinery which will have no exploitative capacity. Only such machinery will be blessing to the mankind. Through such simple technology only, you will be able to create homogeniously happy society and such happy society will be right answer, right solution and right alternative to the western type wasteful and exploitative civilisation. THOSE WHO WORK FOR THIS CAUSE ARE REAL FRIENDS OF HUMANITY.

One most common doubt is raised against such tiny industries is that whether such tiny units are economically viable and can compete to big units ? It is really strange that such question is asked from every part of the world. So it seems that entire world is under illusion that big heavy industries are more viable. This is absolutely wrong. In fact tiny units are always more viable than big centralised industries. One can imagine that tiny units enjoy four distinct advantages over big centralised units. i.e. (1) Transport is eliminated or minimized (2) Packaging is eliminated or people use their own tins, bins, jars etc. (3) Middlemen are eliminated. (4) Marketing is eliminated or minimized and hence all evils of marketing such as profiteering, hoarding, speculation, aldulteration, deception, shortage etc. are automatically eliminated. Tiny units for basic needs will work for local consumption with local raw materials. So all the four advantages will go to tiny units. So they are bound to be far strongly more viable than big centralised units. I have proved this contention beyond doubt by establishing 900 tiny cooking oil mills which are running most successfully, most profitably and most satisfactorily in India and 20 African countries. What is true for tiny oil mills can be proved true for other industries of basic needs also. So I sincerely appeal to all AFRICAN ELITES to come out from false illusions of development, to throw away present theory of development, to ponder over the alarming situation of present age and seriously adopt this pious work of rural development through tiny scale industries with strong faith that entire Africa can be got rid of entire exploitation and entire continent can be made happy without any big industry. I am absolutely confident that one who will determine to work in this direction, will definately meet with great success and he will earn the credit for making great revolutionary changes in Africa through small deeds

RAJKOT

1st, May 1999

Quick Note: Honda was started by Soichiro Honda in November 1937 who graduated from a two year technical college. I repeat two year technical college. Mr. Soichiro Honda had little formal education and he started his education at age 15. What does this tell us as Africans. We can certainly do it if we put our minds to it. Vubundada -------------------------------

Ghana Automotive Designs

Ever since the announcement by Enoch Afudego (see news story), there has been some buzz around the slowly burgeoning auto manufacturing industry in Ghana. With the help of our friends at the Mechanical Engineering department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and technology, we bring you this photo article on the auto manufacturing industry and a student at K.N.U.S.T who is leading the way.



Vehicle on the right is VW whose body was modified by students at KNUST (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology)



Buses put together by artisans at Suame Magazine in Kumasi, Ghana.



A convertible sedan also put together by artisans at Suame Magazine.Ghana



Work in progress at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

"At this stage I believe, we need to further develop our designs to a level that will enable us patent the design before we come out with mass production lines.

I have other projects I am working on. Some I am developing alone and others I am developing with a team. These include the redesign of the Mini Baja car, a go-kart car, an F1 car and a fuel-less car – not based on electricity" - Saddick, Abubakar



Ghanaian Mechanic assembles saloon car
[GNA] 10/5/2004
Enoch Afudego, a 39-year old Ghanaian mechanic has successfully assembled a saloon car. The car, which he named OTAVI, had the entire body including the bonnet, roof and boot designed and moulded with scrap metal and has the engine of an Opel Ascona.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra, Mr Afudego said it took him four months to build the car, which he mostly did at his leisure hours. He said after completing West Africa Secondary School, he did not learn any trade nor pursue his education further.

He said the idea of building the car begun somewhere in 1984, when he visited Liberty Baptist Church where he was inspired in a sermon preached by the Rev. Christian Dogor, General Overseer of the church. He said the Pastor challenged the congregation to unearth their God given talents and put it to use since that was the only way one could achieve greatness.

Mr Afudegu said some days later he began by designing a bicycle, which he later perfected. He said after his success with the bicycle, he started building the car, which finally resulted in the manufacture of the Octavi. He noted that he was in the process of manufacturing a bus and an amphibian car.

The car, which was driven from Tarkwa to the office of the GNA, looked quite rugged for the Ghanaian terrain. Mr Afudego called on the government and other philanthropists to assist him produce the cars on a large scale for local use.

Sudan Automotive Industry: GIAD industrial complex

The city of Giad gears up for new players in mineral processing and vehicle manufacturing

Giad Industrial Group is the biggest industrial complex in Sudan. The industrial zone is divided into the following Companies:
**Giad Automotive Industry Company Ltd
**Giad Company for Steel Manufactures and Pipes
**The Copper Factory
**Giad - Elsewey Cables Company (GESCO)
**Electrical wires and cables production plant
**Bouruj Engineering Company







[align=left][/align]

[align=left]Inaugurated by President Al-Bashir in October, Giad Industrial City symbolises the government's vision of Sudan's future. Situated about 20 miles north of the capital Khartoum, and just over a mile from the banks of the Blue Nile, the new city provides its residents with all the benefits of modern town planning - a hospital, schools, recreation areas and two different sources of electricity.[/align]

[align=left]Comprising two main sectors; one for the metal industry and the other for vehicle manufacturing. President Al-Bashir stresses the importance of creating a strong industrial foundation, which will also boost Sudan's agriculture-based economy. There has already been rapid growth in food processing, medicine and light engineering. But more power will be needed for the expansion of heavy industries, mineral extraction, and the processing of metals. [/align]

[align=left]The Koreans have invested around $6 million in a new training centre, which will enable the Sudanese to work in the fields of maintenance, computers, electronics and mechanical technologies as well as textiles. Industrial production inputs are to be exempted from fees and customs duties. In the industrial complex there are already several heavy-manufacturing plants, one of the largest of which is a steel factory and rolling mill. So far, $38 million has been invested in the 33,000 sq m plant, which has capacity of 150,000 tonnes a year.

A nearby copper plant, with three production lines, makes wire rods, billets and strips. The high-specification rods are primarily used for electrical cabling. A $9 million aluminium plant comprising furnaces, a continuous casting machine, and extrusion and paint lines, produces cables and window and door-frames for the building industry, as well as wire rods for cable production. Another factory, which cost around $9 million to build, produces electrical cables and wires at a capacity of 45,000 tonnes per year. In another part of the city, a large pipe-making plant boasts a capacity of 70,000 tonnes a year. Then there is the Giad Tractor factory, capable of rolling out 1,500 units a year, and the Giad Agricultural Implements plant which produces a wide range of harrows and ploughs. Although these plants employ hundreds, rather than thousands, of people, Giad's industrial firms are set to grow now that oil has been discovered in Sudan. There will be an increasing demand for all the products made in Giad, particularly those intended for use in the oil industry.

Within its group of companies, Sudan Master Technology (SMT) has an assembly line in Giad which rolls out medium and heavy trucks, as well as passenger coaches. Jamal Mohamed Hassanain, general manager of subsidiary SMT Engineering Company, says it was virtually impossible to get European funding for the Giad project. "But we have found that the Chinese and some Far Eastern companies are willing to cooperate and supply us with what we need," he says. Mr Hassanain points out that the products manufactured by Giad will be of a high quality, but adds: "We need to make a huge effort in order to reach the standards we need. Everybody working at Giad should feel t