By Savithri Rodrigo
LOMÉ, Togo (Commonwealth Union)_ A 25-year-old Togolese inventor has invented a 4-wheel drive car made primarily from recycled material. Taking the 3R concept of the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle to heart, Sourou-Edjareyo Malzouwe fuelled his passion for sports cars to achieve a dream of owning a car himself. Since he could not afford the glam model, he was looking for, the self-taught engineer decided to build one himself, a 4X4 that could still fuel his thrill for speed.
Using parts from Titan buses, motorcycles, cars and any other scrap metal he could source, Malzouwe, whose day job is in repairing mobile phones and computers, began his quest about a year ago. His workshop, located in the Forever district of Lomé, the capital of Togo became the hub of his dream and from there emerged the RAF-X-Raptor, named after a play on his own nickname Raouf.
The car is already on the road with the proud driver behind the wheel, cruising the streets and gaining quite a few admiring looks as he drives by. His invention even gave him an audience with the Prime Minister of Togo Victoire Tomégah-Dogbé Dogbé, who tweeted how proud she was of the enormous potential of Togo’s youth. He became an instant celebrity but that doesn’t make Malzouwe complacent.
He has now embarked on his next quest: building a sports car!
