People Attending Africa Electric Mobility Week Exhibition Were Pleasantly Surprised About The Progress In E-Mobility

The Association for Electric Mobility & Development in Africa, AEMDA, supported by Kenya’s leading electric vehicle charging network EVChaja, The Waterfront Mall, UNEP, KNCCI, WRI, Absa Bank, Standard Group and UTU, organized a very successful inaugural edition of the Africa Electric Mobility Week and Exhibition.

On Exhibition day, 15 e-mobility companies displayed their vehicles, including standing scooters, mopeds, e-bikes, motorcycles, electric bicycles, tuktuks, cars, and buses. The 2-wheeler segment was the most represented. Motorcycles are a really big deal in Kenya. The motorcycle segment is now Kenya’s largest vehicle segment.

This impressive growth presents a large addressable market and has attracted a lot of attention and investment in Kenya’s electric motorcycle sector as well as in the rest of the East African region. There are now over 15 startups in Kenya working in the electric motorcycle sector and most of them were well represented at the expo. Delegates got a chance to ride the electric motorcycles from all the exhibitors.

There are 2 companies looking into the electric bus sector, BasiGo and Roam. They were both at the exhibition and both companies provided transport to delegates attending the exhibition. They picked up passengers from designated pickup points in Nairobi and took them to the Waterfront Mall where the expo was held. The electric buses also ferried the delegates back to the dropoff points. It’s pretty cool that some delegates who got to attend the emobility expo traveled to and from the venue using electric buses!

The greatest takeaway from the exhibition was the look on people’s faces as they went around all the stands and discussed all the developments in the electric mobility sector. Most people couldn’t believe that there were this many active e-mobility companies in Kenya and the region. The delegates were impressed by the wide range of electric vehicles on display across the various categories. It’s still early days in the e-mobility sector in Kenya and the East African region, but the exhibition showed that a great deal of progress has been made over the last 5 years.

Here is a video showing some of the main action from the exhibition:

Here is the full list of companies and stakeholders in the Kenyan electric vehicle ecosystem that were at the exhibition:

• United Nations Environment Programme  (UNEP)
• Untapped
• Roam
• Ebee
• BasiGo
• Mazi Mobility
• Kiri
• Fika Mobility
• EVChaja
• Stima Boda & Equator Mobility
• Powerhive
• Vaell
• DriveElectric
• Powward/jua bike
• eWaka
• Ecobodaa
• Arc Ride
• Peer Charger
• ABSA Bank
• AEMDA
• Kenya National Chamber of Commerce & Industry  (KNCCI)

Key stakeholders in Kenya’s transport ecosystem, the boda associations, and the matatu SACCOs were also present. There were many insightful discussions throughout the week to share ideas and progress so far in the industry. The discussions also zoned in on how to grow the e-mobility industry across the continent.

Some of the focus areas included:

• Unlocking the market for electric 4-wheelers
• Guide to policy development for e-mobility in African economies
• Boosting academic research in e-mobility in Africa

Day 1 of the e-mobility week featured discussions on:

• Innovative business models for financing commercial electric vehicles such as buses and taxis
• Pay as You Go as a tool for accessibility in Africa’s EV transition
• EVs and renewables, technology and business innovations

Day 2 of the e-mobility week featured discussions on:

• Charging infrastructure — lessons from around the world the on pitfalls and opportunities
• Standards as a tool for safety and quality in Africa’s EV transition
• Boosting gender equality and social inclusion in the electric mobility ecosystem

Day 3 of the e-mobility week focused on:

• Instruments for national/regional financing for the e-mobility transition
• Innovative business models for financing electric 2-wheelers and bicycles
• EVs in minigrids: A viable business?

Images courtesy of EVChaja and AEMDA