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Electric dreams: East Africa on the move
Forbes Africa
|December 2021 - January 2022
Electric Vehicles (EV) are fast becoming a mainstay of daily commutes around the world. From battery-powered vehicles to electric public buses, we are on the precipice of a revolution in the automotive industry. Africa is not excluded in this new movement with burgeoning sectors looking to change the way African cities move – and breathe! FORBES AFRICA looks at how the EV market is moving in East Africa.
IN THE QUIET TOWN OF RUIRU, IN KIAMBU COUNTY, 15 miles east of Nairobi, a quiet revolution is underway. Fika Mobility, a startup within Kenya’s budding electric vehicle sector, has been assembling electric motorcycles there for almost two years now. These early prototypes are currently in use around the town and parts of Nairobi, where boda boda, commuter and freight motorbike riders, are seeing massive changes to their bottomline due to the energy efficiency of the electric bikes.
“If you look at what boda riders take home, they actually work 12-15 hour days... it’s very competitive and they take very little home. I only began to appreciate this when I started our research, two years ago. We realized that one of the reasons for that was increasing fuel prices and... huge maintenance costs for the engine. Going with an EV [motorcycle] they are immediately saving upwards of 40% of petrol and even more on maintenance,” says Rishi Kohli, CEO and one of the founders of Fika Mobility.
Born out of a passion to make an impact in all his ventures, as has been the theme of Kohli’s entrepreneurial career, Fika Mobility is on the road to doing just that. His bikes are renewable end-to-end, with solar-powered charging stations taking advantage of Kenya’s sunlight hours. They cost approximately $1,200, equivalent in price to local fuel-powered alternatives and are inclusive of a battery pack which can be swapped, for even more efficiency for the fast-moving boda business, at one of their branded charging stations.
As this global sector develops, Africa is still lagging behind but the movement is promising.
Denne historien er fra December 2021 - January 2022-utgaven av Forbes Africa.
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