A zémidjan (or zem) is a type of

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

found in

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

. The highest concentration is found in the largest city,

Cotonou Cotonou (; ) is the largest city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The city lies ...

, where there are an estimated 72,000. Zémidjans are

motorcycles A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

that carry one to two passengers for short distances in towns. The fares are entirely negotiable. The drivers wear uniforms that are color-coded by city and have registration numbers on the back. The name derives from the

Fon language Fon (, ) also known as Dahomean is the language of the Fon people. It belongs to the Gbe group within the larger Atlantic–Congo family. It is primarily spoken in Benin Republic, as well as in Nigeria and Togo by approximately 2.3 million sp ...

, in which zémidjan means "get me there fast" or "take me quickly". Would-be passengers summon a zémidjan by calling "", a word derived from the Fon language. 'Keke' means motorcycle and 'no' means the 'owner of': thus literally means 'owner of motorcycle'. The zémidjan typically stops by and the passenger and driver negotiate the price, depending on the final destination. The minimum rate is 100FCFA. A movie called ''Dreamcycles'' by Nelson Roubert was made about the of Tevisodji Park.

References

Taxis Transport in Benin {{Benin-stub

See also

References