Young Togolese inventor makes a homemade 4-wheel drive

A young Togolese inventor is making waves with his self-made 4X4 car, constructed using mostly recycled materials.

Sourou-Edjareyo Malazouwe, 25, is a self-taught engineer with a passion for sports cars. But as he could afford to buy one himself, he decided his only option was to build one himself.

‘I finished secondary school in 2016 and after that, I started my own business, selling and repairing mobile phones and computers. It's because of that that I could afford to build this car,’ he said.

Work got underway about a year ago in his workshop in the in the Forever district of the capital, Lomé, and the first model has been out on the road for some time now. The young inventor has named the car the 'RAF-X Raptor', a play on his own nickname, Raouf.

New from old

‘I used a lot of recycled parts. I paid for a few new ones. In this box you can see parts from Titan buses, from motorcycles, from cars, it depends. I get the parts from everywhere which is how I manage,’ he says.

Malazouwe says there are plenty of people who are impressed by the car and he has received several orders for one, but has not responded as he is currently working on fixing probems with his garage.

His next step, after that, will be to make another one.

Pride of the nation

In the meantime, he is the pride of Togo. In May, he met with the country’s Prime Minister, Victoire Tomégah-Dogbé Dogbé, who later tweeted that she was amazed and charmed by his genius.

‘I told him how proud we were and reiterated the government's commitment to support him,’ she said, adding that her government was proud to help develop the enormous potential of Togo's youth.