Bolloré Group introduces first electric buses in Cameroon

Since May 5, 2014, students at University of Yaoundé I, the first of the country’s seven public universities, can go from one end of campus to the next on the “Blue buses” that have been provided by Bolloré Africa Logistics and received on May 2, 2014 by the Prime Minister of Cameroon, Philémon Yang.

The two electric engine buses are intended to facilitate on-campus transportation for for Yaoundé I’s 3,500 students each day. They represent an overall investment of 1.4 billion FCfa, according to the Bolloré Group. In the framework of its “Blue solutions” programme, which aims to make Bolloré Africa Logistics “a world leader in electricity storage and management solutions”, the industrial group built a 288 solar panel park on the university’s campus.

According to Gossan Seka, the “Blue bus” project supervisor, these panels capture energy throughout the day and the then transfers it to a kind of transformer which is used to recharge the buses (the same way one would recharge a cellular phone using an electrical outlet) each evening (after the shuttle ends service) for eight hours.

Commenting on the innovations in solar energy, Vincent Bolloré, CEO of the group of the same name, indicated that with the two first Blue buses, his group “does not claim to have all the solutions to urban transportation problems, but it allows students and teachers to enjoy new, eco-friendly technology for the first time in Cameroon. This is entirely a Bolloré investment for the Cameroonian people. And I have to say that his Excellency, Paul Biya (Head of State), was immediately enthusiastic about the project.”