“Today, Quelimane is the biking capital of Mozambique, but my dream is to transform it into the biking capital of Africa.”

As one of the few ‘sons of the land’ that studied and worked overseas, but returned to give back to his own city, Mayor Manuel de Araujo was convinced in 2011 to stand in the election to be the leader of the City of Quelimane. When his team presented his campaign budget, he faced his very first fiscal challenge: the exorbitant amount of money on fuel he needed in order to campaign. In Quelimane’s political culture, candidates often show their political strength using large motorcades with throngs of supporters. 

After long nights of thoughts, Manuel decided to cut the budget on fuel -he was going to campaign on a bicycle. He was called crazy. 

Nine years after his first successful election, Manuel tells us how bicycles and active mobility became the cornerstone of his leadership and administration, as well as one of his main priorities in our TDA Fireside Chat. A budget issue that was quickly solved with bicycles has transformed into an education process for Mayor Manuel and the people of his city, helping to shift the focus from motorised transport to the advantages of active mobility -for the environment, economy, public health, and social inclusion.

To learn more about Quelimane’s insights on active mobility policies, current challenges that Mayor De Araujo is facing on his active mobility agenda, and how he foresees Quelimane’s inspiration to other cities in the world, check out our interview with Manuel below.