Persistent Partners With SolarTaxi to Expand To West Africa
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Ghanaian company SolarTaxi, which was started by Jorge Appiah in 2018, has been making good progress in the electric mobility sector. SolarTaxi’s vision is to become the leading e-mobility product and services company in West Africa. The company designs, assembles, and distributes electric motorcycles & electric cars for transportation and delivery services in Ghana. SolarTaxi probably has the widest selection of all electric vehicles on the continent with no less than 8 impressive 4-wheel models, amongst others, all available in Ghana on flexible monthly rental/lease options as well as via outright purchase.
These models include:
- Xpeng G3 520i Smart
- Cherry Tiggo 3XE
- Changan Oshan
- BYD E6
- Leopaard CS9
- Renault K-ZE
- Link Tour K-One
- Dongfeng ER-30
On the electric motorcycle side, some of its noteworthy customers in Ghana include e-commerce companies like Jumia and Bolt. These firms use SolarTaxi’s electric motorcycles for their deliveries around Accra. Electric motorcycles make so much sense for riders as they help improve their take home earnings by saving on fuel and maintenance costs. The electric motorcycles also play a key role in reducing climate impact.
SolarTaxi is one of the true leaders in the electric mobility space on the African continent and we have featured quite a lot of their work here on CleanTechnica. SolarTaxi’s commendable progress continues to be recognized.
In another notable development, Persistent, Africa’s Climate Venture Builder which believes in the power of carbon-neutral economic development in Africa and is one of the leading experts and pioneer investors in the renewable sector on the continent, has recently announced that it has invested SolarTaxi.
According to its website, Persistent’s primary focus is on investing human capital and leveraging their expertise through hands-on operating roles as part of the management team of the partner company, at the board level, or as strategic advisers. In addition to human capital investment, Persistent provides financial capital to support the growth of its partner companies. Persistent has so far invested in 22 partner companies over the last decade, including 2 exits. It is really great to see electric mobility companies on the continent sealing these types of partnerships. They are the kind of partnerships that could really supercharge the growth of Africa’s nascent electric mobility industry.
Persistent’s announcement adds:
Persistent is excited to welcome Solar Taxi as a venture building partner. This partnership marks Persistent’s fourth investment in the electric vehicle space. As Africa’s Climate Venture Builder with a strong commitment to e-mobility, Persistent recently shared some insights on the e-mobility sector’s potential in Sub Saharan Africa. Persistent’s capital and venture building will support Solar Taxi in unlocking working capital to service significant contracts and orders for its electric vehicles.
Persistent Senior Venture Builder Toukam Ngoufanke says: “At Persistent we believe e-mobility will be an essential component of sustainable, climate-friendly transportation development. We believe that Solar Taxi is an exciting company with an attractive team. We are delighted to partner with Solar Taxi in that mission.”
Jorge Appiah, an innovator and renewable energy entrepreneur and engineer, is very passionate about driving sustainable economic growth. Outside of Solar Taxi, he fosters innovation and entrepreneurship in Ghana via the Kumasi Hive.
Solar Taxi CEO Jorge Appiah says: “Our journey throughout the years has the characteristics of resilience and hard work, right from when we assembled our first prototype vehicle to when we received our seed funding from our key partner, MasterCard Foundation. We later had to prove the business concept of our model by scaling our business activities in four different locations in Ghana.
Our growth so far has been due to the support we received from our partners, customers, investors and our hardworking staff. As we look to create our own path to success, we intend to scale our business activities by setting up an assembling plant for our bike and car operations in Ghana.
In light of that, we are delighted to welcome Persistent to the SolarTaxi family, as they believe in us and in our vision and have committed their resources to this effect. This latest funding from Persistent demonstrates their conviction in our business model and team and it gives SolarTaxi the much-needed support to deliver on our plans for the future.”
As e-commerce and the need to move goods and people grows in Ghana, and throughout Africa, climate friendly transport infrastructure is needed to mitigate the negative impact of pollution in transportation.
Images courtesy of SolarTaxi
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