'On the worst days we have 40 admissions from motorcycle accidents', says Dr Ariste Dantio at the Sylvanus Olympio hospital, 'but we never have fewer than 20. There is never any pause.'

As motorcycle ownership in sub-Saharan Africa has grown from less than five million in 2010 to an estimated 27 million in 2022, the rate of death and injury from crashes has surged. In Togo, 72% of all road deaths are due to motorcycles, officially accounting for 681 lost lives in 2021.