A Daily minibus assembly line at the SOTRA INDUSTRIE plant in Koumassi, near Abidjan, started production early this year, making the Ivory Coast the first country in Africa to have a minibus assembly line. The project, which began in 2018, is the most recent outcome of a collaboration between IVECO BUS, an Iveco Group brand and leading manufacturer of buses and coaches, and SOTRA (Société des Transports Abidjanais), the public transit provider for Abidjan and its suburbs, that started nearly 40 years ago.
The inauguration ceremony took place on Monday 10th January and was attended by the Prime Minister of Ivory Coast, his Excellence Patrick Achi, senior representatives of the Ivorian Government, as well as the Italian Ambassador, Arturo Luzzi, and Stéphane Espinasse, Head of Sales & Products, IVECO BUS.
The new plant ‒ which has an annual production capacity of 1,000 units and employs 500 people ‒ will manufacture the Daily Minibus, specially renamed “Daily Ivoire”, which can have from 16 to 26 seats. The first 60 Daily Ivoire minibuses have already rolled off the production line, powered by natural gas engines from FPT Industrial, another Iveco Group brand and a renowned leader in propulsion technologies. The minibuses are destined for the Ivory Coast market and for export to other African countries, starting with Western and Central Africa.
This contributes to the Ivorian Government’s extensive programme for modernising the transport supply and diversifying the national economy through industrialisation. The new minibuses, which will use alternative, environmentally friendly propulsion, also highlight our continued commitment to sustainable mobility in Africa, a core region for IVECO BUS.