Abstract
Walking dominates all measures of personal and household-level goods movement in Sub-Saharan African societies, but this is rarely evident in planned interventions in their transport systems. The capture of investment by elites is most apparent in cities without a network of safe walkways, yet where only a minority drive cars. Attitude is the most plausible explanation why walking is ignored, buttressed by a sense that it has little economic importance. The persistence of poverty with its obvious relation to immobility, and declining environmental conditions in cities, are the most likely issues to force a reassessment of the role of walking among decision makers. (A)